ISLAMABAD: Recently-retired Higher Education Commission (HEC) chairperson Dr Mukhtar Ahmed could face problems in getting selected for the slot once again since the CV he submitted for the on-going selection process of new HEC chief revealed several contradictory information.
In the CV, a copy of which is available with Pakistan Today, he claimed that the USAID merit and need-based scholarship were initiated during his tenure as the chairman which had actually been there since June 2004 and immediately after the end of Phase 1, Phase 2 had started in December 2013, prior to his becoming the chairman.
Besides, he made another false claim to have instituted the Vice Chancellors’ Forum, as it was constituted by the COMSATS in collaboration with several governmental and non-governmental organizations across many Islamic countries and its first meeting was held in 2012.
He claimed to have won three consecutive Global Good Governance Awards by Cambridge Analytica, a very dubious company that gathers and sells online data for various manipulative purposes.
He must explain what purposes he has served for the company of dubious repute in order to get those awards despite the fact that the main governing body of the HEC had been absent throughout this period and the authority of the commission was continuously usurped by the chairman.
He also listed the first position in MSc at Agriculture University as a national award.
Out of the 15 publications mentioned in the CV, actually, only 2 are in impact factor journals.
The CV does not mention anything about the number of international patents, number of books published by international presses, number of PhD students supervised, which were required as key information in terms of research experience for the post of HEC chairperson.
According to the CV and past practice, Dr Ahmed himself claimed to be the professor of management sciences, which has already been challenged through three various petitions at Islamabad and Lahore high courts.
According to the filed petitions, Dr Ahmed, with an academic background in horticulture (BSc in 1984 and MSc. in 1987) and PhD in Botany, he became the professor of management sciences merely on the basis of MBA which cannot be recognised by HEC as per its laid down attestation criteria.
It is another violation of HEC criteria for appointment of a professor in which a PhD in a relevant field along with fifteen publications in HEC recognised journals is mandatory. According to a copy of HEC’s eligibility criteria, he does not qualify any condition for becoming a professor but he is still using this title.
Secondly, he was not appointed as the professor against any advertised post and through a proper selection process and set procedures.
The university also mentioned about the irregularity and violation committed by Dr Ahmed who completed his PhD at the University of California in the field of Botany on June 16, 1995. However, he also completed his MBA on the same date. He completed both degrees simultaneously without obtaining prior NOC from the Punjab government for taking admission in the MBA program.
When contacted Education Ministry Secretary Akbar Durrani for comment, he stated that he did not know anything in this regard.
However, when he was asked that what action could be taken if the information proved to be false, he cancelled the call and later did not respond.
Despite repeated attempts, Dr Mukhtar could not be reached for his comments.
