ISLAMABAD: Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU), Islamabad’s embattled Vice Chancellor (VC) Dr Javed Ashraf has shown the door to deputy treasurer of the university, Fayyaz Muhammad, for not granting the VC his 13th salary.
Sources told Pakistan Today that the VC wrote to the deputy treasurer asking him for 13th salary, whose four-year tenure is going to expire on October 11, 2018. The deputy treasurer categorically refused to say that the law did not allow him to take the salary.
They said that the vice chancellor quoted previous QAU VC Masoom Yasinzai, who is serving as International Islamic University Islamabad’s (IIUI) rector that he took the 13th salary to strengthen his case.
However, they said that the deputy treasurer responded that the previous vice chancellor took the salary because it was authorised by the chancellor of the university, who is the president of Pakistan.
According to sources, Fayyaz told the VC that he should get approval from the president for the release of 13th salary.
The VC then removed the deputy treasurer from his position immediately and directed that he should be replaced with Assistant Treasurer Muhammad Saghir Khan.
The notification, a copy of which is viable with Pakistan Today, said, “Consequent upon the directives of the VC, Assistant Treasurer Muhammad Saghir Khan is hereby allowed to act as treasurer in place of Fayyaz Muhammad with immediate effect and till further orders.”
Further, the treasurer also wrote a letter to VC to deposit Rs1,020,524 as a recovery of house rent. The VC has been using university residence but did not pay the rent for years.
Academic Staff Association (ASA) of QAU condemned the illegal action of the VC over the removal of treasurer from his office.
It is worth mentioning here that throughout his tenure of four years as the vice chancellor, no permanent treasurer was appointed.
The ASA demanded that ministry of education should stop VC from taking illegal actions just 10 days before ending of his disastrous tenure at QAU.
When contacted, VC Javed Ashraf stated that the notification has been withdrawn, adding that he is entitled to get the 13th salary just like his predecessors received.
To a question about non-appointment of permanent treasurer, he said that he did his best to appoint a treasurer but the officials who were finalised refused to accept the positions due to various reasons.
Besides that, he said that the appointment process is quite lengthy due to which hitherto permanent appointment could not be made.
About, the reinstatement of three officials who were sent on forced leave, he said that he has the authority to reinstate them and there is no need to get the approval of the syndicate.