Deadlock over appointment of vice-chancellors in Punjab universities persists

The standoff between the Governor's House and the Chief Minister's House remains unresolved regarding the appointment of vice-chancellors in Punjab’s universities, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Wednesday.

According to sources in the Governor's House, the appointment of vice-chancellors is legally under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Punjab.

The sources emphasised that the Punjab government's search committee must submit a summary with three recommended names for each appointment, not just one. 

Sources revealed that Governor Punjab Sardar Saleem Haider had raised objections on the summaries for the appointment of VCs and returned them to the Chief Minister’s House. 

Additionally, summaries for three more universities remain pending at the Governor’s House. Earlier, the CM's House had sent 13 summaries, all of which faced objections from the Governor.

Despite these objections, on September 24, the Punjab government appointed VCs for seven public sector universities in the province. These include Prof Dr Muhammad Ali Shah at the University of Punjab, Prof D Shahid Munir at UET Lahore, Prof Dr Zubair Iqbal at Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Prof Dr Amir Azam Khan at the Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology Rahim Yar Khan, Prof Dr Aqif Anwar Chaudhry at the University of Education Lahore, Prof Dr Inayatullah Khan at UET Taxila, and Prof Dr Ahmed Shuja at the University of Gujrat.

The search committee, led by former bureaucrat Ismail Qureshi and including members like retired Lt-Gen Muhammad Asghar, Farkhanda Wasim Afzal, and Amjad Saqib, conducted interviews in August for the appointment of regular VCs in general public sector universities.

Despite these appointments, notifications for 11 universities are still pending. These include Government College University Faisalabad, Islamia University Bahawalpur, IT University Lahore, University of Narowal, Women University Multan, LCWU, Women University Sialkot, Government Sadiq College Women University Bahawalpur, Government College Women University Madina Town Faisalabad, Home Economics University Lahore, and Fatima Jinnah University Rawalpindi.

The Governor, who serves as the Chancellor of the universities, raised concerns over the appointments, while Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari countered that the Governor has a "limited role" in the process. A senior PPP leader's intervention recently led to the issuance of notifications for the appointment of some vice-chancellors in public universities, although the deadlock over other appointments persists.

Reporter: Hasan Ali