The social media was abuzz on Monday with news that Punjab University Vice Chancellor Dr Mujahid Kamran’s request to allow him to stay in office until a new vice-chancellor is appointed in his place has been reportedly rejected by the Chief Minister’s (CM) Secretariat.
According to information making rounds on the social media, the summary was sent to the CM Secretariat by the Higher Education Department (HED).
January 22, 2016 will be Dr Kamran’s last working day in the VC’s office as he is set to retire on that day.
The Punjab Higher Education Department (HED) had sought applications from potential candidates in November for the appointment of vice chancellors in four public sector universities of the province. These universities included Punjab University, Lahore College for Women University (LCWU), University of Sargodha (UoS) and Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Engineering and Technology Multan.
The incumbent Punjab University VC has enjoyed two stints of four years each in his office and is again vying for the position, Pakistan Today has learnt.
He has also served in the same capacity during the interim set-up prior to his second tenure.
Commenting on the issue, PU spokesperson Khurram Shehzad said that the VC’s office had not made any request for his appointment in the interim set-up.
“The vice chancellor is not empowered to move any such request under the amended constitution of the university and no one can be appointed during the interim setup,” he said, adding that the clause regarding the appointment of VC during interim period has been removed from the constitution.
However, the incumbent LCWU VC Dr Uzma Qureshi has been working on interim basis since past few months and the permanent appointment is to be made in coming days.
Deputy Secretary (DS) Universities at Higher Education Department (HED) Barakullah Khan told Pakistan Today that HED has not forwarded any such summary regarding the PU VC to the Chief Minister’s Secretariat and all such news is baseless.
He was of the view that the interviews for the post of VCs would be conducted in a few days and hopefully all the appointments would be made before the expiry of the tenures of existing VCs.
“If the VCs are not appointed before the time, then any decision to run the affairs of universities will be made according to the law with the approval of the Punjab governor, who is the chancellor and appointing authority in this regard,” he said.
