ISLAMABAD: The selection of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) chairman is proving a Herculean task this time around, as serious objections have been raised over the selection process after names of candidates, who are being currently probed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), were included in the list of probable candidates.
Creative Scientist Society Pakistan President Dr Tahir Rasheed, who is also a candidate for the HEC chairman position, raised serious objections over non-transparency and clear violations of the country’s constitution, HEC Ordinance 2002 and Supreme Court (SC) verdicts during the selection process.
Through a letter addressed to the prime minister, who is the controlling authority of HEC, Dr Rasheed stated that in view of the on-going process for appointment of the new HEC chairman, it was quite unfortunate that many senior academicians were being deprived of the opportunity on the basis of age limit.
He said that some controversial candidates named in the selection process were facing inquiries for illegal appointments and irregularities.
He drew the attention of the prime minister towards various principles and guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court which directs the appointing authority and search committee to ensure overriding principles of selection based on merit and avoiding controversial candidates with fake credentials.
Most importantly, the HEC Ordinance 2002 and the newspaper advertisements did not specify any age limit for the position. The letter stated that it would be unfair and a violation of SC verdicts to deprive certain senior academicians of availing the opportunity.
It is important to mention here that sharing the age limit is a preferred approach for most educational institutions while advertising different posts. In case of selection of HEC head, such condition had not been mentioned in the HEC Ordinance nor in any newspaper advertisement.
In addition, the matter of the illegal appointment of the current HEC chairman Dr Mukhtar had already been discussed in various courts and NAB had also approved proper probe into allegations of irregularities in the appointment process.
Dr Rasheed requested the prime minister to intervene in the matter in order to ensure merit and transparency while appointing of the HEC chairman in accordance with the guidelines/verdicts of the Supreme Court and provisions of HEC Ordinance 2002.
