LAHORE: The Punjab government on Thursday appointed vice chancellors in six more universities of the province after the chancellor exhausted the 15-day time frame for approving an advice of the chief minister.

The government had initiated the process of appointing VCs in 25 public sector universities across Punjab two months ago. Over 600 candidates were interviewed for top slots of these universities, with the search committees forwarding the names of the top three candidates for each position to the provincial government.

As per the notification issued by the Higher Education Department (HED), Prof Saeed Ahmad was appointed VC of Thal University Bhakkar, Prof Ashfaq Ahmad of the Ghazi University Dera Ghazi Khan, Prof Yasir Nawab of the University of Kamalia, Prof Faheem Aftab of the University of Jhang, Prof Sajjad Mubin of the University of Okara and Prof Zubair Abu Bakar of the University of Layyah.

Earlier, Punjab Governor Sardar Saleem Haider Khan had raised concerns over the process of appointment of VCs in the public sector universities. He vowed to stop these appointments, raising objections to some candidates picked for the VC slots by the Punjab government.

About the role of the governor in the process of appointment of the VCs after the 18th Amendment, the Constitution of Pakistan clearly states, “The governor shall act in accordance with the advice of the cabinet or chief minister for appointment of VCs. The governor may require the cabinet or the chief minister to reconsider such advice, whether generally or otherwise, within 15 days. If the CM sends the summary again the governor has to act in accordance with the advice after reconsideration within 10 days.”The government issued the notification of six more VCs after lapse of 15 days by completing the legal formalities.

Meanwhile, the appointment of VCs was pending in six other universities, including the Islamia University Bahawalpur (IUB), Information Technology University (ITU) Lahore, University of Home Economics (UHE) Lahore, University of Gujrat, University of Narowal and Government College University (GCU) Lahore.

The delay in the appointment against these important varsity slots is further contributing to the uncertainty in these institutions already affected by the leadership gap. It is also fueling concerns about the management of these universities, already grappling with academic and administrative challenges.

Meanwhile, LCWU faculty of Islamic and Oriental Learning Dean Prof Dr Syeda Faleeha Zahra Kazmi was appointed acting VC of the UHE for a period of three months or till the posting of the regular incumbent for the fourth time.

Ms Kazmi has already served three tenures as the VC in an additional charge capacity. She was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Islamic & Oriental Learning on April 14, 2023, for three years and was given additional charge of UHE VC for six months by caretaker CM Mohsin Naqvi on Aug 5, 2023.

Before the end of her first tenure, she was given an additional charge on Jan 29, 2024, by the caretaker CM. She was given charge of the post for the third time on Aug 15 and now, her appointment has been extended for six months on Nov 12.

Earlier, Prof Anila Kamal, the incumbent VC of Women University Rawalpindi was recommended by search committee as a top candidate for UHE.

CM Maryam Nawaz and the governor also interviewed her but no appointment notification was issued yet.

A senior HED official on condition of anonymity told Dawn that the decision of appointing VCs in remaining universities was pending.

He said that ITU might get a VC while posts of VCs for UHE Lahore, GCU Lahore and IUB Bahawalpur would be re-advertised.

He said the re-advertisement of the posts would be started after the completion of the process of decision about 25 universities and they would also complete the process of other universities where the VCs were retiring in March 2025.

Earlier, the government had appointed VCs of 12 universities of the province. These include Government College University, Faisalabad, Lahore College for Women University (LCWU), Fatima Jinnah University, Rawalpindi, Women University, Sialkot, Government Sadiq College Women University, Bahawalpur, Government College Women University, Faisalabad, University of the Punjab, University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Lahore, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology, Rahim Yar Khan, University of Education, Lahore, University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Taxila.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2024