LAHORE: The president of Pakistan has halted the recruitment process for various teaching and non-teaching positions in 27 categories since the functioning of the Senate of Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design (PIFD) is under review.

The president, who is also chancellor of the PIFD, had issued a show-cause notice to the institute’s senate and later constituted a five-member review panel to probe the governance of the PIFD senate following a series of controversial administrative decisions.

The probe was ordered after institutional backlash over permitting an under-inquiry acting vice-chancellor to conduct senate proceedings and bypassing senior faculty for leadership roles. It had also overlooked the chancellor’s order regarding reconstitution of the search committee to select a permanent vice-chancellor.

Recently, the Senate of Pakistan’s committee on rules of procedure and privileges had also sought full record of alleged illegal continuation of the vice-chancellor of the institute.

While the affairs of the PIFD were already under the scanner, the institute’s administration advertised various teaching and non-teaching positions in 27 categories on Sunday (Oct 4). This action irked the presidency and the president’s secretariat issued a letter to the institute’s registrar telling him that the president/ chancellor has taken serious notice of the matter and directed that “the recruitment process vide vacancy announcement dated 04.10.2026 shall be halted forthwith, until further orders”.

The letter stated that the regular/acting vice-chancellor of the PIFD is yet to be notified. “In these circumstances, it would not be appropriate to proceed with recruitment against the advertised posts at this stage,” says the letter.

The president also noted that serious allegations regarding malpractices in previous recruitment undertaken by the institute had been reported. In these circumstances, the letter stated, “it is considered appropriate to keep the recruitment in abeyance until the review panel furnishes its report”.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2026