University of Health VC holding CE post without approvalLahore, May 18: The vice-chancellor of the University of Health Sciences has been holding the office of chief executive of the university allegedly without the formal orders of the chancellor/governor Punjab.
Sources said the incumbent UHS Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Malik Hussain Mubashar had allegedly been using the powers and functions of the chief executive without any legal justification for the last several years.
The University of Health Sciences, Lahore (Amendment) Act 2009, Section 15 (1) says, "The Chief Executive shall be appointed by Governor on such terms and conditions as the Governor may determine, and shall hold office for a term of four years. (2) Provided that after the completion of the first term of the Chief Executive, the Governor may or may not appoint a new incumbent and, in case no further appointment is made, may entrust the powers and functions of the Chief Executive to the Vice Chancellor."
The powers and functions of vice-chancellor and chief executive have been defined in the UHS act, according to which, the former deals with the academic matters and the latter is responsible to handle the administrative matters, ensuring the general administration with regard to the finance, budget and accounts of the university. However, official sources said that governor/chancellor had neither issued the order for appointment of Prof Dr Malik Hussain Mubashar as the chief executive under Section 15(1) nor entrusted the powers and functions of the chief executive to the vice-chancellor under Section 15(2).
It may also be mentioned that the UHS homepage (
www.uhs.edu.pk) also did not mention vice-chancellor as holding the co-office of the chief executive. When contacted, the UHS administration claimed that the governor/chancellor had appointed vice-chancellor as the chief executive but failed to produce any notification despite repeated requests over the past couple of weeks. However, the university spokesman sent a text message to the scribe, which read, "Governor letter No. G.S (B)17-6/2003 dated 17.3.2003. It says the Governor/Chancellor is pleased to allow VC UHS to perform the duties of CE." The spokesman did not show the notification despite several requests while the vice chancellor was also reluctant to take the calls. The VC also did not bother to ring up despite the scribe's communication with his spokesman during the last couple of weeks.
The official sources, reacting against the reference given in the text message, doubted the
veracity of its contents because the governor's another notification No GS(B)17-2/2003 133, dated 7.4.2003, which is available with The News, says, "In exercise of the powers conferred on him under Section 12(1) of the University of Health Sciences, Lahore Ordinance, 2002, the Governor/Chancellor is pleased to appoint Prof Dr Malik Hussain Mubashar, Deputy Dean, Rawalpindi Medical College, Rawalpindi, as Vice Chancellor, University of Health Sciences, Lahore, with immediate effect."
They alleged that the reference given in text message was fake because, according to them, the incumbent VC was appointed one month after the purported notification, which described him as the VC. Therefore, the governor would not have declared the incumbent as VC and allowed him to perform the duties of CE on 17.03.2003 whereas he was actually appointed as VC on 7.4.2003 and assumed charge on 12.4.2003. Although it is not known for how long the VC has been holding the post of CE yet as per the text message, the VC must be holding the post of chief executive for just over seven years, which has also crossed the duration of the term of four years under the provision of the Act.
The sources claimed that the UHS vice-chancellor was enjoying special blessings of the Punjab government as he was still serving despite the promulgation of University of Health Sciences, Lahore (Amendment) Act 2009 with the only amendment to Section 12 replacing both of its sub-sections by adding fresh eight sub-sections. The amended Section 12(1) says, "The Chancellor shall, on the advice of the chief minister of Punjab, appoint the vice-chancellor for a term not exceeding four years," while continuation of incumbent VC on the post was in contravention of this provision as he has been serving on the post for a little over seven years.
Besides, the Punjab government, in its notification dated April 10, 2008, terminated reemployment of the retired officers/officials from civil, army and police, without exception, in government departments, all autonomous bodies, etc. However, the VC of UHS continues serving in this capacity despite attaining the age of superannuation on 31.7.2005. Moreover, the governor's notification No GS(B)2-15/2006-332, dated 3.4.2007, which says, "In exercise of the powers vested in him under Section 12(2) of the University of Health Sciences, Lahore Ordinance, 2002, the Governor/Chancellor is pleased to order the continuation of Prof Malik Hussain Mubashar, Vice-Chancellor, University of Health Sciences, Lahore till final processing of the case," is still valid despite the ban on reemployment in service after retirement. The incumbent vice-chancellor has been serving postretirement for nearly five years, while sources wondered whether the governor's order "till final processing of the case" required more than three years, especially after the provisions, under which the appointments were made, became obsolete with the enactment of the ordinance.
Ironically, the Punjab government's both orders of ban on service after retirement and regularisation of all contract employees from BPS 1 to 15 in the province do not apply in case of the UHS.
The UHS has also failed to create the post of Pro-Vice Chancellor despite its Board of Governors, in its 20th meeting held on February 6, 2010, directed to do so as per requirement in the light of amendments incorporated in the newly-promulgated Act of the university. It had decided that the proposal to create a post of Pro-Vice Chancellor would be incorporated in the budget proposal for the financial years 2010-2011.
The creation of the post of Pro-Vice Chancellor is essential under Section 12(7), which says, "If the office of the Vice-Chancellor is vacant or the Vice-Chancellor is absent or is unable to perform the functions of his office due to illness or some other cause, the Pro-Vice Chancellor shall perform the duties of the Vice-Chancellor." There is a whole Section 14 of the Act that defines the post and duties of the Pro-Vice Chancellor.
When contacted, the UHS spokesman said that UHS Board of Governors had issued directions for creating a post of Pro-Vice Chancellor but added that now it was the prerogative of the vice-chancellor to do as he pleased to do.
