LAHORE: The Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA), Punjab, has expressed concern over the bureaucracy’s role in curbing the autonomy of the public universities of the province.

FAPUASA Punjab (PU Lahore) President Engr Dr Azhar Naeem presided over an online meeting of the executive body on Wednesday.The members expressed their concerns about the sheer dangers to the autonomy of the universities. They said the bureaucracy has usurped the financial and administrative autonomy of universities by framing the acts of new universities in a way that the powers of their faculty and vice-chancellors can easily be manipulated.

For instance, the syndicate is chaired by a minister, instead of the VC, and the faculty is not represented in such decision-making bodies. Likewise, universities are not provided with sufficient funds on a need basis.

The executive body resolved to run a media campaign in order to persuade the next provincial assembly to legislate a uniform Universities Act in which all universities had their Senates and Syndicates chaired by their VCs and their majority should be represented by elected representatives of all cadres of faculty members. Moreover, there must be provisions for the existence of universities’ academic staff associations, along with elected representatives in all the statutory bodies of the universities.

The committee said it supported those university teachers who are struggling to form their ASAs. Such efforts of the teachers in NFC Multan were admired, and it was resolved that the secretary of the Punjab FAPUSA will issue a notification of endorsement for their provisional body as soon as a consensus is developed in the teachers of that university.

The meeting condemned a letter from one section officer of the Higher Education Department (HED) that refused to entitle the university teacher 15% of special allowance on the ground that employees of universities are not ‘civil servants’. The meeting demanded that the HED secretary issue a notification that must accept the admissibility of special allowance – 2022 to all university employees from grades 1 to 22 in very clear terms.

It was decided that the governor, chief minister, minister, chief secretary and relevant secretaries will be approached.

The executive body showed concern for the non-payment of salaries to the faculty members of Islamia University, Bahawalpur (IBU). It was demanded that the government issue funds, according to UNESCO principles, to all universities, especially the IUB, Balochistan University in Quetta, the University of Peshawar, and the University of Tando Adam. The meeting demanded that the Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, release the salaries for its employees of the Layyah campus and also repatriate them to their parent university.

The draft of the promotion policy for university teachers already agreed upon between FAPUASA and the All Pakistan BPS University Teachers Association was re-endorsed by the meeting. The meeting condemned the assassination of university teacher Dr Muhammad Ajmal Sawand in Sindh and demanded the early arrest and trial of the assassins.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2023