MULTAN: The Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) administration has recruited a number of lecturers on ad hoc basis in violation of rules and regulations, Dawn has learnt.

BZU Vice-Chancellor Dr Khawaja Alqama while exercising the delegated administrative powers (clause-4) of university’s calendar appointed Kinza, Arshad Javaid, Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Zaffar, Mudassir Nazir and Abdul Rauf in the faculty of Veterinary Science as lecturers in BS-18.

Shazia Khalique, who did her masters in botany, has been appointed as lecturer in Environment Science Department while Khurram Afzal, who has a degree in pharmacy, has been appointed in the Food Science Department.

In 2012, under the Public Sector Universities (Amendment) Act, the powers of vice-chancellors for creating and filling temporary posts were abolished as the government stand was that VCs misused emergency powers while binding them to report their actions to their respective pro-chancellor and syndicate within a week and presented their actions for approval before the syndicate within 45 days.

The Punjab government had reported that VCs of almost all public sector universities in the province had made appointments while exercising the powers that exclusively rested with the chancellor or syndicate.

When the government had introduced the amendment it believed that it would stop the misuse of powers, but the BZU administration while making mockery of the act took stand that appointments had been made by the vice-chancellor while exercising his delegated powers under clause-4 of university calendar instead of university act.

Sources told Dawn that the university did not have its own calendar and presently it was using the Punjab Universitys calendar.

They said the calendar was a book of rules and regulations normally approved by the syndicate which had no authority to devise any rule contrary to the act.

They said when the act regarding the contract appointments had been amended; how could any clause of calendar that was contrary to the act be used for ad hoc appointments.

In its meeting held on July 7, 2010, the university’s syndicate had decided that in future the university would not appoint faculty members on a contract basis.

On one hand the vice-chancellor appointed Ms Khalique and Mr Afzal in departments that were not relevant to their subjects while on other hand the university’s selection board in its last month meeting rejected cases of two lecturers of the Seraiki Department for their appointment as assistant professors.

One of them has done his M.Phil in Urdu despite his research work was on Seraiki while the other has done his Seraiki research work in English. BZU Registrar Malik Munir Husain said no violation was done in the appointments of lecturers.

He said the university’s calendar allowed the vice-chancellor to make appointments on ad hoc under the delegated administrative powers of the VC.

SUMMONED: An investigation officer of the anti-corruption probing into the allegations of misappropriation of funds by former medical superintendent of Children’s Hospital and Institute of Child Health, Multan, summoned all the accused persons on March 20.

Dissatisfied with the investigation conducted by the Anti-Corruption Establishment, the Anti-Corruption director-general had transferred the case to Lahore.

Assistant Director (Investigations), Lahore, Waqar Ahmad was appointed as the investigation officer who had first summoned the complainant and the accused on Feb 17, but MS Dr Rana Aftab Ahmad Khan did not appear and sent a medical certificate.

The IO sent another notice to the accused to appear on March 5, but the accused again failed to appear.

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