Candidates for the post of Vice Chancellor of Government College University Faisalabad have started running their horses in the field. On behalf of the candidates, lobbying and recommendations are being sought to connect their contacts with the higher authority and the governor’s house, while the candidates have also been active against each other.
Two weeks ago, GC University Faisalabad Vice Chancellor Professor Dr. Shahid Kamal died in a traffic accident on the Sahyanwala Motorway. And after his death, one of the most senior Deans of the University will be appointed Pro Vice Chancellor for the position of Vice Chancellor in the University, after which he will be assigned the acting charge of the Vice Chancellor. In this situation, among the most senior category of the university, Dean of Physics Professor Dr. Nasir Amin is in first place, Dean of Oriental Learning Dr. Humayun Abbas is in second place and Dean of Medical Sciences Dr. Abid Rashid is in third place. And one of these three will be appointed Pro Vice Chancellor of Government College University Faisalabad. As the process of appointing the Pro-Vice-Chancellor accelerates, the three candidates have left their horses in the fray and have been busy lobbying for access to power.
According to sources, a strong candidate for the post of Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Professor, is accused of corruption of Rs230 million during the establishment of a high-tech lab, because he was the chairman of the committee for the establishment of the lab while another professor who was a member of this committee has fled abroad illegally at that time. Due to this, no action has been taken on this alleged corruption. Similarly, the issue was not adequately highlighted in the syndicate meetings of the university. Along with this, the said Professor Dr. has been an employee of GC University along with Agriculture University from 2012 to 2017, while in 2017; Agriculture University withdrew his position from him. There was another allegation of corruption against the said professor that he as the acting vice-chancellor himself had increased his salary and issued a notification about it which caused a lot of noise.
According to the sources, during 2021 and 2022, a professor was investigated for illegal recruitment, in which the charge leveled against him could not be proved, so he became a red flag in these inquiries, but the opponents are now uprooting these pits dead and are busy re-launching these inquiries In the past, the said professor was accused of possessing experience against the required standard and pledging research articles, which could not be proved during the inquiry and he was fully cleared in this case. Similarly, audit objections have been raised against the third candidate during the medical university period, which is common in the university.
According to the sources, Vice Chancellor of Government College Women’s University Professor Dr. Rubina Farooq is also considered to be in the running for the position of Acting Vice-Chancellor. However, some constituencies are objecting that his service is only three to four months left, so in this situation, her appointment as acting vice chancellor will not be appropriate. According to the sources, apart from these candidates, there are some people in the field who are constantly in contact with the governor’s house, including the higher authorities and are engaged in “strengthening relations” with various government figures. However, the Higher Education Department will prepare a summary including the profile of the three candidates and send it to the Chief Secretary of Punjab after the approval of the concerned provincial minister, who will present it to the Chief Minister of Punjab and the Chief Minister will give his output on this summary and send it to the Governor of Punjab. After this, the Governor will notify the appointment of the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Punjab GC University who will also hold the post of Acting Vice-Chancellor.
