ISLAMABAD: The Punjab government has appointed Professor Dr Nadeem Akhtar Abbasi, the senior most faculty member, as Rawalpindi Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University’s Vice-Chancellor (VC) after Pro VC Professor Dr Sarwat Mirza retired on January 3, 2019.
Dr Nadeem Abbasi, who was the Rawalpindi Agriculture University faculty dean, has now been appointed for a period of three years as the VC of the university that suffers due to political wrangling and weak administration ever since the retirement of Professor Dr Rai Niaz Ahmad.
The notification, a copy of which is available with Pakistan Today, reads: “The governor/chancellor, in terms of Section 15-A of the Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi Act, 1995, has been pleased to appoint Dr Nadeem Akhtar Abbasi, Dean Faculty Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, for a period of three years.”
Sources privy to the development told Pakistan Today that the Punjab governor had finally appointed the right person for the right job since he was the senior-most official in the university.
However, they added that even though he was a great administrator, he would have to face the gigantic task to regain the university’s lost glory as it is facing numerous issues due to the incompetence of the previous management.
The sources said that due to the recently-retired Pro VC’s weak decision power, the Selection Board meeting of the university had not been held for the last three years, causing great resentment among applicants who had applied for various posts in 2016.
Besides, they said that the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has halted around 43 PhD programmes as well as M.Phil/MS and MSc programmes of the university for not meeting the commission’s required criteria.
Moreover, it was directed that the university should not admit any scholar in the programme until the HEC permits. The programme for already enrolled students would run provided that other identified deficiencies are rectified.
However, they expressed optimism that due to the appointment of a permanent VC, these problems would soon be sorted out.
