KARACHI, July 19: Taking notice of alleged irregularities in recruitments at higher positions in the University of Karachi, the Sindh Ombudsman has directed the KU vice-chancellor to re-recruit people on those posts following the prescribed rules and to conduct a probe into the matter.

The vice-chancellor has also been asked to submit a report in this regard within 90 days. These appointments – of senior scientific officers (BPS 18) and scientific officers (BPS 17 – were were made at the Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (KIBGE) in 2007.

Mohammad Hussain, Syeda Qamarun Nisa, Sitwat Zahra and Afsheen Arif were appointed as senior scientific officers and Syeda Nuzhat Nawab, Shaukat Ali, Arif Chishti, Fayeza Fatima, Ainy Khan, Sajida Batool and Saba Shahid were appointed as scientific officers.

These directives from the Ombudsman, Asad Ashraf Malik, came on July 11, 2008 on the complaints lodged by Mr Mohammadi and Mr Khalid Saeed who had applied for these positions at the KIBGE but after completing all the required formalities like tests, interviews etc could not get the jobs.

According to the ombudsman order, the vice-chancellor of the Karachi University has been directed to “re-advertise the posts of scientific officers / lecturers for selection / appointment afresh on merit and in a transparent manner and constitute a high-level committee to probe into the affairs of the selection made by the ex-director general, KIBGE, fix responsibility and take appropriate action against the others held responsible.”

According to the complainants, many of those who were appointed had not even appeared in the recruitment tests and some of them had even been appointed against the posts which were not even advertised.

The investigations carried out by retired colonel Ghulam Mohiuddin, a director at the ombudsman’s office, said that the complainants had challenged the appointments made against the posts of lecturers and scientific officers (BPS- 17 and 18) at the KIBGE. The complainants also alleged nepotism and discrimination in the recruitment process. The investigation report said that the plea taken by the university was not convincing.

The report said that though the complainants had failed the test and therefore had no case, but the allegations levelled by the complainants were genuine and in fact the process of selection of lecturers and scientific officers was not transparent.

“The university miserably failed to prove that the allegations levelled in the complaints were not correct and thus maladministration, as defined under Section 2 of the Establishment of Officer of the Ombudsman of the Province of Sindh Act 1991 is established in its part”.