KARACHI: The Sindh government’s move to enable bureaucrats to become vice chancellors of universities across the province suffered a major blow on Tuesday when the governor withheld the assent to the controversial Sindh Universities and Institutes Laws (Amendment) Bill and returned it to the provincial assembly for reconsideration.

Raising objections to the section enabling a cadre officer of BPS-21 or above to be appointed as VC in any university of Sindh, Governor Kamran Tessori returned the bill to the assembly and said that, according to the clear directives of the Federal Higher Education Commission (HEC), a vice-chancellor must be an academician.

He further stated that other provinces were also adhering to these HEC guidelines.

The governor asserted that individuals holding PhD degrees possess deep expertise in academic leadership, research, and administrative matters.

Says under HEC directives, a vice chancellor must be an academician

He pointed out that appointing bureaucrats as vice-chancellors did not align with the academic and research standards required for higher education institutions. “Bureaucrats lack a thorough understanding of the educational needs of students, faculty members, and researchers,” he added.

Mr Tessori urged the provincial assembly to reconsider the raised objections to ensure that the leadership of universities remains in the hands of qualified academicians, adding that appointment of bureaucrats did not meet the academic standards.

He said that the bureaucrats could not fully understand the academic needs of students, faculties and researchers.

Amid strong protest by all three opposition parties — the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-backed Sunni Ittehad Council and Jamaat-i-Islami — the Pakistan Peoples Party had on Jan 31 got passed the Sindh Universities and Institutes Laws (Amendment) Bill.

Besides political parties, the associations of lecturers and professors and civil rights campaigners have also strongly opposed the government’s move to appoint bureaucrats as VCs of universities.

Under Article 116 of the Constitution, a bill passed by the provincial assembly shall be presented to the governor for assent.

As per the Section (2) (b) of the Article, if the bill is returned to the provincial assembly by the governor “with a message requesting that the Bill, or any specified provision thereof, be reconsidered and that any amendment specified in the message be considered”.

The Section 3 of the Article says: “When the Governor has returned a Bill to the Provincial Assembly it shall be reconsidered by the Provincial Assembly and, if it is again passed, with or without amendment, by the Provincial Assembly, by the votes of the majority of the members of the Provincial Assembly present and voting, it shall be again presented to the Governor and the Governor shall not withhold assent therefrom.”

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2025