PESHAWAR: Irregularities have been detected during the ongoing appointment of around 100 employees to the Islamia College University, claim sources.

The sources told Dawn that the entire recruitment exercise was open to question due to the hiring of more people than the advertised posts and existence of an incomplete selection committee.

They said the ICU had advertised 41 posts up to BPS-16 on March 27, 2017, but 84 people had so far been hired and that the recruitment process was still under way.

The sources insisted that 26 junior clerks had been recruited ‘in one go’ though the advertisement published in newspapers showed two vacancies for them.

They also said the administration had appointed 18 naib qasid (peons) against the five advertised seats and 15 water carriers and 13 helpers against the 10 and eight advertised ones respectively.

The sources said 10 watchman posts were advertised and appointments to them were in progress but there was a high likelihood of more people securing that job.

They also insisted that the selection committee was incomplete as its convener, Prof Subhan Khattak, and member Dr Gohar Zaman had retired before the start of the recruitment process but the administration had yet to appoint their successors.

Currently, the committee has three members, who are overseeing the recruitment process.

The sources said the administration had enforced new statutes, the Islamia College Peshawar Appointment and Scales of Pay of Ministerial, Technical, Support and Other Staff Statutes, 2016, in April 2017 dissolving all ICU committees.

They said the committees had to be reconstituted under the new statues, which were approved by the syndicate, but the old selection committee stayed put carrying out the ongoing recruitment exercise.

Section 11 (5)(f) of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Universities Act, 2012, states: “the Selection Committee for recommendations of suitable candidates for appointment in BPS-16 and below shall be constituted by the syndicate in manner as may be prescribed by the statutes.”

ICU Vice Chancellor Prof Habib Ahmed was not available despite repeated attempts, while several senior staff members Dawn spoke to refused to offer comments on the matter.

However, a senior administration member defended more appointments than the advertised vacancies, insisting the advertisement clearly mentioned, “the competent authority reserves the right to increase/decrease/cancel the number of posts.”

When asked if the university needed new employees in such a large number, then why they weren’t mentioned in the advertisement, he insisted that recruitments were made on need basis.

He insisted that the old selection committee was there as the syndicate hadn’t met after the enforcement of the new statutes.

An academician told Dawn that the university could increase and decrease the number of posts advertised but doing so in large number was astounding.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2017