PESHAWAR: As reports about alleged irregularities in recruitment of employees and financial matters are emerging from the cash-starved public sector universities across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the provincial government has launched inquiry against four of them, according to sources.

“It is part of the series of inquiries, the government has decided to conduct at all the public sector universities,” sources in higher education department told Dawn.

According to the decision of the provincial government, all public sector universities would face inquiries in different phases, they said.

The four universities facing the probe included Islamia College University Peshawar, University of Bannu, Kohat University of Science and Technology and Bacha Khan University Charsadda, sources said.

The higher education department has recently brought to the light a large number of appointments made in Gomal University Dera Ismail Khan in violation of merit and the criteria set by Higher Education Commission.

The inquiry committee, which has been tasked to probe the irregularities, consists of HED Special Secretary Abdul Ghafoor Baig, Deputy Secretary (universities) Kaleemullah Baloch and section officers Hamid Khan and Asad Jan.

The institutions facing inquiry include Islamia College University Peshawar, University of Bannu, Kohat University of Science and Technology and Bacha Khan University Charsadda

Sources said that the members of the inquiry committee paid several visits to the four universities to obtain record of the previous few years. In the whole process, the committee’s focus was on the utilisation of development funds and recruitment of employees, they said.

When asked about the completion of the probe, sources said that it was a laborious job because it required meticulous scrutiny of the relevant documents. Besides conducting inquiry, they said, the committee members were also performing routine work in the HED, which was already overloaded with increase in the number of universities.

Provincial Minister for Higher Education Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani, when contacted, said that the inquiries were launched after receiving complaints. “The universities should focus on research work and all decisions must be taken on merit in the universities,” he said.

The minister said that those institutions (universities) should not be used just for providing jobs. It was the prime responsibility of the universities to impart quality education to the students, he said. “Efforts are afoot to strengthen the universities”, he added.

To a query about establishment of new universities when the existing ones were facing financial crisis, the minister said that keeping in view the population, the province needed more universities to educate youth.

However, he said that universities should be established purely on need basis.

Mr Ghani said that HED had also hired the services of a highly paid audit firm of international stature to carry out financial audit and performance evaluation of the universities. “The firm will continue financial audit and performance evaluation round the year,” he added.

Published in Dawn March 9th , 2015

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