PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Higher Education Department on Friday notified the appointment of Dr Jehanzeb Khalil as pro-vice chancellor of the Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan (AWKUM).

A notification issued by the department said that in the exercise of powers conferred on him under Section 12A (1) of KP Universities Amendment Act 2016, the KP governor as chancellor of AWKUM had appointed Dr Jehnazeb Khalil as the pro-vice chancellor of the varsity till the day of his retirement i.e. December 12, 2017 with immediate effect.

Dr Khalil is said to be the senior-most professor in AWKUM and a faculty member of the political science department. The university has been closed since April 13 lynching incident on the campus.

The appointment of the pro-VC has paved the way for the opening of AWKUM as earlier the local police had said that varsity could be reopened when the provincial government would appoint its vice-chancellor or pro-VC.

Mardan regional police officer Mohammad Alam had said a few days ago that they could not allow reopening of the varsity in the presence of incumbent administration which was incapable to handle any unpleasant situation.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2017