KARACHI: The Sindh governor on Saturday appointed vice chancellor of the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS), which officials in the Sindh government said was done against the chief minister’s recommendation as required in the rules.

According to a notification issued on Friday and released to the media on Saturday, governor of Sindh and chancellor of DUHS Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan appointed Dr Noshad A. Shaikh VC of the university. It said Dr Shaikh had been appointed as per the Sindh Universities Laws (Amendment) Act, 2013 for a period of four years.

A statement issued by the DUHS said Dr Shaikh assumed the charge of vice chancellor on Saturday.

Officials in the provincial government said the appointment had widened the division between the Sindh government and the governor as, sources said, Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah had recommended Dr Saeed Qureshi for the post.

Officials in the Sindh government cited the rules amended in 2013 of the Sindh government for the public sector universities of Sindh that ‘clearly say’ the governor remained the chancellor of all public sector universities of Sindh, but he could not supersede any order or notification done on the recommendations of the chief minister.

“He has to act as per recommendation of the chief minister, which in this case has not been done,” said a senior official.

Previously, officials said, Governor House issued a notification to give additional charge of the DUHS VC to the vice chancellor of the University of Karachi, which was again done without the chief minister’s recommendations. Besides, Dr Muhammad Qaiser of the KU was a botany professor and did not qualify to head the DUHS, which requires a person belonging to the medical field.

The DUHS remained without a chief for weeks when its VC Dr Masood Hameed Khan completed his term and was replaced with his deputy Dr Umer Farooq, who was removed within days.

After weeks of events that saw two individuals appointed acting vice chancellors and got removed, officials said, the situation remained unsettled as it had been.

The Pakistan Medical Association and the alumni of the Dow Medical College earlier criticised Governor Ibad’s ‘interference’ in the appointment of DUHS VC and demanded Chief Minister Shah appoint a new VC on the recommendation of his own constituted selection committee on the basis of merit.

“The search committee of the provincial government had made its recommendations after interviewing 12 individuals who had applied for the post and the name of Prof Saeed Qureshi was sent to the governor for appointment,” said a senior official in the government.

Published in Dawn October 4th, 2015

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