VC rejects charges as ASA starts ‘save Gomal campaign’

• Dr Sarwar Khan calls show-cause notices to some 90 employees a reason behind protest

PESHAWAR: Gomal University Academic Staff Association (GUASA) has setup a protest camp in front of GPO Main Bazaar against the university administration for not accepting their demands here on Saturday.

GUASA President Shoaib Gangohi, general secretary Dr Shahid Kamal, members of other faculties, teaching staff and employees of class III and IV of the university were also present in the camp. The protesters on this occasion categorically made it clear that their protest would continue till the acceptance of their demands.

They chanted slogans of “University Bachao (save university). “Our agitation would continue against the deaf air attitude of the administration against the university employees and will be continued till the acceptance of their demands. On this occasion, Gangohi said that the university admin taken misuse of power against the employees in different manners.

He leveled allegation against the vice chancellor and acting registrar by what he says misusing their power and issuing of show-cause notices to over 90 employees, mostly teachers, who had been appointed through illegal selection criteria in 2008 and 2014.

He said that the acting registrar, whose appointment was illegal, was trying to take such steps to victimise the employees on the one hand and save his own post on the other. The ASA president said that the administration has also cut non-attractive area allowance to teachers by 50 percent and the teachers’ ward quota in the university has been abolished.

Gangohi said that the university administration has been engaged in doing illegal recruitment in different ways. He said that the administration was also using the university’s resources for personal use inflicting huge financial losses to the university. He said that they would not sit in peace until all their demands were accepted by taking the show cause notices back.

Vice Chancellor Dr Mohammad Sarwar Khan rejected all the allegations and said that the protest was started when show-cause notices were issued to some 90 employees as per the directives of then governor in 2015. He said that the governor was of the opinion that the selection boards formed in 2008 and 2014 were illegal, therefore, the process under which these employees were selected by these selection boards had to be declared null and void.

He said that the action would be taken against those employees who were appointed illegal. All the employees concerned were individually asked to submit their record they had which could justify their recruitment, the vice chancellor said.