PESHAWAR: The higher education department has been found to be violating the government’s policy guidelines for the establishment of public sector universities in the province for a decade.

Of these 20 universities, 13 are functional, while others are in different phases of establishment.

The government issues a set of guidelines, project policy, to regulate appointments to posts in approved development projects.

Officials say exemption from project policy being sought for 20 varsities

Section 1(ii) of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Project Policy, 2008, has declared that the policy would apply to all posts in the approved development projects funded fully or partially by the provincial government or controlled by it.

It covers the establishment of 20 public sector universities.

Sources claimed that the relevant officials serving in the higher education department during the last decade didn’t know that the establishment of new universities fell in the ambit of the project policy.

They said the provincial government allocated salary and non-salary budget of public sector universities for the purchase of land for campus and expenses in their first three years.

Though the Higher Education Commission funds the universities thereafter, the government occasionally gives them money for putting up buildings.

Sources said since all university projects relied heavily on the government’s resources, the project policy, too, applied to them, but the department hadn’t adhere to it while establishing 20 universities in the last decade.

They said the first three years of the university’s establishment was called the project mode and during that period, all appointments up to BPS-21 were made by a committee headed by the project director/vice-chancellor.

The sources said the committee also comprised the representatives of finance, establishment and higher education departments and officials of the institutions concerned.

They said the university appointments through that committee violated the project policy.

Under Section 7 of the KP Project Policy clearly said, “recruitment to the project posts shall be made on the recommendations of selections committees.”

Under Section 7(a) of the policy, the committee headed by additional chief secretary will be responsible for recommending employees for BPS-19 and above, while secretaries of establishment, planning and development (P&D) and finance departments or their nominees will be its members.

The policy’s Section 7(b) empowers another committee headed by the higher education secretary for making recommendations for recruitment in BPS-17 and above, while under Section 7(c), another committee headed by the project director is responsible for making recommendations for appointments in BPS 1-16.

Section 8 of the policy also provides for the setting up of two committees: one for shortlisting project director and other for other vacancies on the basis of the candidates’ academic qualifications, experience and other abilities.

Sources told Dawn that the project policy wasn’t followed for the establishment of seven universities, which were in project mode.

The universities include University of Technology Nowshera, University of Buner, University of Chitral, University of Lakki Marwat, University of Technology Mardan, Women University Mardan and Women University Swabi.

Sources said the issue came under discussion during a recent meeting called by the industries department to discuss the sacking of six University of Technology employees, including two associate professors (BPS-20) Dr Nasimullah and Dr Amjad Ali by the project director/VC.

The meeting was convened to discuss whether the project director was empowered to sack staff members.

The participants wondered why the project policy was not being followed for the establishment of public sector universities though the government’s funds were used for the purpose.

A senior official of the higher education department confirmed the administrative anomaly and said the establishment department, too, had expressed reservations about it.

He, however, said his department was considering to request the establishment department to exempt the establishment of new and future universities from the project policy as a corrective measure.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2018