The new vice chancellor of the Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology (FUUAST) has drawn up plans for improvements in the campus.

Prof Dr Suleiman D. Mohammad was appointed after Dr Zafar Iqbal was sacked by the president of Pakistan on corruption and mismanagement charges.

The new management announced on Thursday that the cases of 35 ghost teachers would be sent to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). They said the money paid in salaries to these ghost teachers would be recovered.

Abdul Haleem, who is the deputy registrar of the university, said the former VC had put 35 employees on the payroll but that none of them had ever turned up for work. He said, “Our committee unraveled the scam. We are now going to involve the FIA in the matter.”

Mr Haleem said the new management was making efforts to improve the campus, “We have bought generators and enhanced the security arrangements.”

Other faculty members who spoke to Dawn said it was important to address the declining standard of the university. The campus, where over 5,000 students are currently enrolled, has no campus in-charge or an additional registrar. The university is being run at a small, rented building.

Three years ago, the university had purchased a plot measuring 80 kanals in Chak Shahzad for building a new campus. Till date, there are no plans for starting work on the new building.

Some faculty members told Dawn that the basic idea behind the establishment of the university was to promote Urdu and encourage research in the language. So far, they said, no steps had been taken to achieve that goal.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2015

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