LAHORE: The Punjab government removed on Monday Dr Umar Saif from the posts of Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) chairman and Information Technology University (ITU) vice-chancellor. His contract for both posts expired several months ago, and he was holding charge of both posts without any further notification.

He became PITB chairman in November 2011 and ITU vice-chancellor on Jan 20, 2013. He also remained adviser to chief minister Shahbaz Sharif.

Dr Saif told Dawn that he was aware of his removal from both posts but he had not received any notification.

He bad farewell to the posts with grace.

He tweeted, “All good things must come to an end. It was a privilege to serve this country for 7 years. I served 5 successive governments and established two institutions: PITB, which became the main reform engine for the government with over 300 projects in Punjab and other provinces, and ITU, which in just 5 years, became one of the premier technology universities of Pakistan with close to 100 PhD faculty members. Plan9, PlanX and e-rozgaar paved new avenues of entrepreneurship, innovation and employment for the youth of Pakistan. I am truly proud of all my team members. 1, 700 fantastic professionals at PITB; 112 faculty members at ITU”.

A senior official of Higher Education Department (HED) told Dawn that Mr Saif’s tenure as ITU VC ended last year and he was working on a temporary basis. The government would soon appoint vice chancellors in all public universities and they were working to develop new criteria for the post.

However, HED secretary Sarah Saeed said that the department did not receive any intimation of removing Mr Saif from the ITU.

Planning and Development Department (P&D) Chairman Habibur Rehman Gillani told Dawn that he was given additional charge of PITB chairman.

He said they had written to the government after Mr Saif tenure as chairman ended some months ago and he was also working on temporary basis. “It is government’s decision not to continue the temporary status of Mr Saif further,” he said.

Under Dr Saif, the PITB completed more than 300 projects, such as e-stamping, smartphone-based tracking of vaccinators, an early epidemic warning system, Punjab Wi-Fi hotspots, digitization of school and college textbooks and an extensive school monitoring system, biometric attendance devices in every health facility and establishment of e-Khidmat centers.

The PITB also supported many projects concerning technology entrepreneurship, including the launch of start-up incubator Plan9, start-up accelerator PlanX, and a network of e-rozgaar centres to train university students to monetise their education from online freelancing.

Dr Saif received the British Council Alumni Award in 2017 for his professional achievements. In 2015, he was awarded Sitara-i-Imtiaz by the government of Pakistan for his work in education and public service in information technology.

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2018