Rs 0.6 million compensatory allowance VCs of versities in Nowshera
PESHAWAR:13 April: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak, despite the objections raised by the finance department, has approved Rs 0.6 million per month compensatory allowance the VCs of universities in Nowshera and Mardan.
With effective from the date of appointment, a letter has been issued to the AG office for disbursing Rs 13.1 million for the purpose.
Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan V Dr Khursheed Khan and Shuhada-e-Army Public School University of Science and Technology Nowshera V Dr Qamar-ul-Wahab had submitted applications for monthly compensatory allowance.
In his response Finance Secretary Shakeel Qadir on October 19, 2017 had said there was no justification for the additional allowance, as the VCs received hefty salary and other perks and privileges under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Universities [Amended] Act 2012. Moreover, other VCs would also demand the same if the request made by the two was accepted, he added.
But the chief minister accepted the summary which says the two VCs would get the compensatory allowance till June 2018.
Later, the higher education secretary issued a notification 18-2017/1-BOX/ED/3, saying that an amount of Rs 13.8 million had been issued the two VCs – Rs 7.8 million for Wahab and Rs 6 million for Khursheed.
Khursheed – appointed on September 18, 2017 – receives Rs 292,000 as monthly salary and Rs 58,500 [20 per cent of the basic pay] as additional amount. Hence, his total monthly salary now stands at Rs 951,000.
On the other hand, Abdul Wali Khan University Deputy Registrar Arsh-ur-Rehman, in a letter dated March 20, 2018, informed Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra that Khursheed wasn’t running the affairs correctly. Some professors, whose even probation period had not completed yet, were appointed as deans, he added.
Requesting the governor to investigate the matter so as to unearth the political characters behind their appointments, Arsh says one of them is Prof DR Zahoor-ul-Haq who was shown as a regular professor to appoint as Dean Faculty of Business and Economics. Similarly, Prof Dr Aurangzeb’s appointment as dean is also against the statutes.
According to the letter, a group of faculty members backed by the VC have imposed the law of jungle in the varsity and the VC is taking steps against the syndicate’s decisions.
The deputy registrar warned that a Mashal murder case could be repeated if immediate steps were not taken to check the VC’s behaviour.
He said Khursheed, Zahoor and Aurangzeb held British, Canadian and American nationality respectively, but the university administration did not give their name when the higher education department sought the names of those having dual nationality.
He added that the VC had appointed faculty members on administrative posts, while his on appointment was illegal as he was an engineer and thus unsuitable for the post.
Khursheed had not applied for the slot but was appointed on political grounds, Arsh said in his letter.
The deputy registrar also mentioned that the VC had also occupied a one-kanal varsity guest house in Sheikh Maltoon Town and a three-storey house in Islamabad, which could earn Rs 0.5 million monthly if rented.
Other allegations include use of security guards, waiters, chefs and six vehicles for personal use.
The letter also says that the VC called an emergency syndicate meeting on February 26, 2018 to fulfil political agenda, in which 270 officials were targeted. The decisions included declaring illegal the appointment of a Grade-21 professor of Economics and formation of committee comprising the favourites to investigate against the said officials, which submitted a report against them. But when the syndicate approved a new inquiry, the VC refused to accept the decision and snatched the agenda copies from the members.
On the other hand, Education Minister Mushtaq Ghani told The News that the two VCs were highly qualified and had been serving in top foreign universities. The compensatory allowance was awarded to
them because they had decided to return to the country and serve in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he added.
Ghani said The PTI government was giving an attractive package to bring back the highly qualified persons at a time when people were leaving the country because of low wages. He praised Khursheed who, he added, was working on bringing reforms in the varsity, adding that the people affected by the process were behind the propaganda.The news.
