CHAKWAL, Jan 20: The board of governors (BoG) of the Government Postgraduate College at its maiden meeting here on Thursday approved Rs5 million for the development of the college. Besides, it also sanctioned appointment of 18 lecturers to run the new BS (honours) programme.

Sharing the details of the meeting with this correspondent, Principal Dr Sajjad Ahmed said no teacher of the college would be disturbed.

He said the meeting was held peacefully as he had taken all the lecturers of the college into confidence a day earlier.

However, sources told this correspondent that the meeting was marred by casual attitude of its members. They said the BoG was to meet at 11am but Commissioner Rawalpindi Zahid Saeed's too much late arrival and absence of 11 out of the 16 members raised many eyebrows.

Prof Fateh Mohammad Malik, Rector International Islamic University Islamabad, Khwaja Javed, business tycoon, and Let-Gen (retired) Abdul Qayum, former chairman Pakistan Steels, along with eight other members did not attend the meeting. The sources said the meeting was attended only by five members - the director colleges, the commissioner, district coordination officer, principal and a retired brigadier. The college was closed since Wednesday.

Let-Gen (retired) Abdul Qayum while talking to this correspondent said he reached the college at 10:55am and waited till 1:15pm but the commissioner, who was to chair the meeting, did not arrive. “After a tiresome wait I left the college as I had to dispose of many other tasks,” he said.

Meanwhile, Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association, Rawalpindi division's vice-president Prof Naeem Shahid said they staged a peaceful protest by sitting in the staff room. He alleged that DCO Tariq Viqar Bakhshi misbehaved with a lecturer. “We condemn this act by the DCO,” he added.

He said a resolution drafted by the Punjab government was being passed at every meeting of the BoGs. “This is a tactic only to satisfy Lahore High Court.” He said teachers and students would be left high and dry when the curtain would be lifted on the BoGs. “Lecturers are recruited by Punjab Public Service Commission on merit but after introduction of the new system they would be hired by the board according to the wishes of its members,” he maintained. He said the fee of students would also be increased as it had been done in other colleges where BoG had been launched a few years back.