KARACHI: Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon has said that the process for appointing vice chancellors of public sector universities has been improved in accordance with the decision of the provincial cabinet.

“The new approach allows not only teachers but also professor, retired professionals and experts in the relevant field to be considered as candidates for the position of vice chancellor. While professors can still be appointed as VC, the criteria have now been broadened to include more options,” he said while speaking at a press conference on Monday.

He highlighted that former VCs of Sindh University, such as Allama I.I Kazi, Mazharul Haq Siddiqui, Nisar Siddiqui, and Mehran University’s Muzaffar Shah, were bureaucrats, who were appointed as VCs.

He noted that the number of universities in Sindh had increased from eight to 30 by the PPP government.

Urging all stakeholders to cooperate with the Sindh government, he said that a professor can certainly become a VC, but “if a better candidate can be found among administrative experts, they too have been given a chance”.

Commenting on a businessman’s remarks during a meeting with Federal Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal asking him to send Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to Sindh, he said: “I would like to clarify that Punjab is also our province, and motorways are being developed there. However, I must point out that federal governments have predominantly been led by parties from Punjab, and their focus has largely been on developing motorways in that province.

“Meanwhile, Sindh has experienced significant neglect in terms of effective motorway infrastructure, a concern we have consistently raised. We have documented the disparities in federal projects allocated to Sindh and other provinces. If we are to compare the performance of chief ministers, we should consider their contributions to different mega projects,” he said.

In response to a question, Mr Memon stated that the home minister and the inspector general of police had already provided a clarification regarding the issue of some Chinese citizens who moved the Sindh High Court. “We value the safety of Chinese citizens more than our own lives. Some standard operating procedures have been established regarding security, and we want everyone to adhere to these SOPs,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Memon called on PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari at the Bilawal House. During the meeting, political and administrative affairs of the province were discussed.

Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2025

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