HYDERABAD: Senior faculty members of the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) warned on Wednesday that they would resort to strike if the name of a junior teacher, Dr Anila Attaur Rehman, was not struck off the list of candidates shortlisted for the post of LUMHS vice chancellor.

They questioned the manner in which the teacher with “questionable service record” who shot to the post of pro vice chancellor of the university in quick succession and in “stark violation of rules” had been shortlisted. The entire selection process smacked of foul play, they said.

LUMHS Teachers’ Association president Prof Suhail Ahmed Almani, Prof Ayub Leghari, Prof Shafiqur Rehman Memon, assistant professors Dr Agha Taj, Dr Arshad Abro and Dr Agha Ahmed Hussain said at a joint press conference at a local hotel that secretary of universities and boards Naveed Shaikh was responsible for the “illegality”.

They called for the secretary’s removal and disqualification of Dr Rehman for interview and institution of an inquiry against her.

They lambasted the Sindh government’s search committee for ignoring senior university teachers over ‘unexplained’ eligibility criteria in the selection process and shortlisting the junior teacher who was an associate professor and was made an assistant professor and soon promoted to the post of associate professor in quick succession in a questionable manner.

Dr Almani, whose name was not on the list of shortlisted candidates, lashed out at the search committee for compromising merit. “21 candidates had applied for the post of vice chancellor of LUMHS but eight have been shortlisted for interview to be held on Aug 28 by the committee,” he said.

The remaining candidates, including him, Prof Shafiq Memon and others were treated as ‘ineligible’, he said.

He said that if justice was not done then teachers would be compelled to shut the university. They had submitted a presentation to the committee about Dr Anila’s questionable promotion but in vain. “I have 41 papers to my credit yet I ended up as ineligible,” he complained.

He said that merit was not being observed in the selection process and if he was not fit for the post then some other senior university teacher with required experience and papers could be considered for it, but how could a junior teacher be considered and then shortlisted for the highest office.

Prof Shafiq, head of the university’s urology department who was also not considered for the VC’s post, said that the committee was briefed through a presentation about Dr Anila’s “illegal appointment” as assistant, associate professor and then professor.

Teachers had expressed reservations over her promotion because it was rejected by the university’s syndicate; still she was being called for interview by the committee, he said.

He said that she was appointed as assistant professor in January 2011 considering her PhD qualification. What was surprising, he said, was that after passage of just 24 days she was promoted as associate professor in February 2011 on own pay scale (OPS) without having to go through selection board in spite of the fact that she was supposed to serve as assistant professor for five years.

“Things didn’t stop here. She was appointed as professor on Feb 14, 2014 within three years in violation of rules of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council and Higher Education Commission which require eight years’ experience as assistant and associate professor for a university teacher to become a professor,” he said.

He said that university’s syndicate objected to her promotion as professor. Her case was sent to the then Sindh governor along with other promotion cases but the governor, too, allowed her promotion and rejected other cases, he said.

Dr Arshad Abro said that on April 20, 2015, Dr Anila was appointed as pro vice chancellor in BS-21 while bypassing 31 senior teachers and without even placing an advertisement in newspapers amid syndicate’s objections.

He said that he and Dr Ahmed Hussain had already questioned her elevation as professor and pro-VC before the Sindh High Court which was yet to decide the case and the committee was aware of it.

But if this was not enough, he said, the committee had now invited her to the interview for the post of vice chancellor of the university, he said.

He said that a tailor-made advertisement was placed in newspapers for finding a VC in March 2017 in which PhD studies and administrative experience were mentioned in criteria instead of academic experience and it was done only to accommodate her. He said that she was at 32 in seniority list of professors.

Prof Ayub Leghari, head of orthopaedic department, Dr Agha Taj, Dr Munir Banglani and others also spoke at the news conference.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2017