LAHORE: The Punjab University on Monday ‘temporarily’ suspended its decision to remove 42 contract professors on the ‘intervention of the Punjab government’.

“We have to intervene on reports that students’ education in Punjab University is being affected because of abrupt decision of sacking 42 contract professors,” Punjab Higher Education Minister Syed Raza Ali Gilani told Dawn.

The minister said the varsity could not fire such a huge number of teachers in one go as it seriously affected the studies. “There has to be a rational decision and a committee comprising three-member public sector vice-chancellors (headed by PU provisional Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Zafar Moeen Nasir) has been formed to look into the matter.

The committee will see the tenure and competence issue of the teachers in question case by case and give its recommendations,” Mr Gilani said. The name of other two committee members will be finalised later.

“The varsity has suspended its decision (to remove 42 contract professors) till recommendations by the committee within a month,” Prof Nasir told Dawn.

Body formed to review decision

He said the varsity was not wrong in its earlier decision to end the contract of these professors. “No proper procedure was followed in their appointment besides questions were also being raised on their performance. As some of the appointments were political, the varsity also wanted to create positions for new talent,” he said.

To a question as to why the PU reviewed its decision, he said: “I was asked by Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) chairperson Dr Muhammad Nazamuddin to have a meeting over the matter. I was conveyed certain concerns over the sacking of these professors and it has been decided in the meeting to form a three-member VCs committee to review the decision and finalise recommendations in this regard.”

The Punjab Higher Education Department has taken a notice of the matter reportedly on the complaint of some of the sacked professors who termed the PU administration’s decision ‘unjust’.

“Some of these professors were quite influential who approached the minister and requested him to intervene. Even one of the professors’ tenure was to end next month and he had not sought extension. He took the sacking as humiliation and wrote to the provincial government about this,” a source in the varsity said.

Earlier, the Pakistan Academy of Science had written to the federal Higher Education Commission requesting it to intervene as a majority of the terminated professors were engaged in various research projects.

The sacked professors include Prof Dr Khawaja Muhammad Zakria, Dr Jehangir Tamimi, Dr Ejaz Mujtaba Ghouri, Akhtar Hussain, Dr Shoukat Ali, Dr Farrukh Zia Khan, Dr Fouzia Naheed Khwaja, Syed Fida Hussain Bokhari, Syed Farooq Hasnat, Dr Naseem Akhtar Saad, Dr Ajmal Niazi, Dr Ziaullah Chaudhry, Dr Mehmood Hussain, Dr Rafiuddin Hashmi, Dr Muhammad Akram, Dr Abdul Waheed, Dr Shoukat Mehmood, Dr Muhammad Nawaz Chaudhry, Prof Naeem Mir, Dr Jamil Anwar and Muhammad Jamil Khan.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2017