LAHORE: Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar has accepted the resignation of University of Sahiwal Vice Chancellor (VC) Prof Dr Muhammad Nasir Afzal.

Mr Afzal was appointed as the first VC of the varsity in August 2018 after the then government notified Bahauddin Zakariya University’s Sahiwal sub-campus as a university in 2015.

A copy of the notification available with Dawn states: “The governor is pleased to accept the resignation of Prof Dr Muhammad Nasir Afzal, vice chancellor, University of Sahiwal.”

It further stated: “The governor is pleased to assign the additional charge of the post of the vice chancellor of University of Sahiwal to Prof Dr Zikria Zakar, vice chancellor [of] University of Okara for a period of six months or till the arrival of a regular incumbent.”

A senior official on condition of anonymity told Dawn that the Dr Afzal was facing problems at the university and had time and again written to the government, but his pleas were not heeded. The university faced shortage of funds and staff, including senior faculty members, and these issues were pointed out to the government several times.

The official said this was the second time that the VC had tendered his resignation. “The first time the government had not accepted the resignation and directed him to continue work and that his problems, including providing senior faculty members and finances, will be addressed, but no one accorded him any respect,” he claimed.

Dr Afzal had tendered his resignation again some weeks ago and was again asked to continue working, but he did not want to. He also had some personal reasons that aggravated the situation and resulted in him leaving the post.

Commenting on his personal problems, the official said, Mr Afzal’s family was living in Canada but he had called his wife to Sahiwal, who could not adjust in the small town. This also forced him to quit.

Sources said that last year, the Sahiwal university had demanded Rs45 million and Rs1.2 billion under an approved PC-I for non-development and development expenditures, but the Punjab government failed to allocate the funds in the annual budget. For the last three years, no Special Drawing Account had been set up at the Accountant General Office because of which no allocated budget could be transferred to the university.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2020