The Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science, and Technology (FUUAST) administration appointed 235 faculty members through the Selection Board 2021. The Higher Education Commission (HEC) discovered egregious anomalies in this process and suggested that the entire procedure be abandoned.
But despite its unequivocal recommendation, no such action has been taken up to this point. Today, the Senate will meet in a special session in Islamabad under the direction of President Arif Alvi in order to decide on an interim arrangement, take action against those accountable for irregularities, and discuss other crucial matters.
The university claimed to have interviewed 1,100 applicants to select 235 people for the Selection Board-2021, which was led by acting registrar Dr. Muhammad Sarim and vice-chancellor Dr. Rubina Mushtaq. The candidates included 89 lecturers, 109 assistant professors, 21 associate professors, 10 professors, and six others.
There were accusations of bias and irregularities throughout the entire appointment process.
The varsity’s present financial predicament has gotten so bad that it is unable to consistently provide its staff with their full compensation.
“The National Accountability Bureau should look into this corruption case. HEC probing alone is insufficient. Given that the public exchequer is involved, NAB ought to look into this, according to a top Fuuast administration official.
For the task, the HEC chairman assembled a five-person committee that included Dr. Arshad Bashir, HEC consultant academic, Javed Memon, director of HEC in Karachi, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Tufail, pro vice-chancellor of NED University, Shahzaib Abbas, director-coordination of the HEC, and Raja Akhtar Iqbal, joint secretary at the federal education ministry.
According to the committee’s findings, Fuuast had asserted that the new faculty would not face any financial consequences; nonetheless, it was evident that the addition of 235 individuals would result in a financial impact above Rs127 million.
During the review process, the committee noticed several irregularities, such as tampering with original documents, mishaps in the appointment of professors and associate professors, mishaps in the offering of faculty positions, mishaps in the conduct of the selection board, inadequate examination of the documents, unequal opportunities for qualified candidates, and inaccurate financial impact calculations.
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It stated that the committee was still unable to reach Dr. Sarim, the acting registrar and selection board secretary. It is indicated that out of the 1,100 candidates who were interviewed, 235 were chosen. 89 lecturers and 109 assistants made up a total of 235 appointments. Professors, ten professors, twenty-one associate professors, and six were not specified.
“The Selection Board proceedings were recorded in a register, two-thirds of which were handwritten by Dr. Muhammad Sarim (acting Registrar, FUUAST when the Selection Board 2021 was conducted),” the committee wrote in reference to tampering with the original record. A few of the statements have been replaced, changing “one” candidate to “none,” “recommended” candidates to “not recommended,” and vice versa. The register’s page numbers are out of order and tampered with, and even entire documents have been copied and rewritten on it.
“Dr. Zubair Khalid, who was chosen as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering based on recommendations, is not listed among the applicants or interviewers. Since FUUAST officials were only able to provide the applications of the appointed professors and associate professors, the committee also noticed significant inconsistencies in the appointments of professors and associate professors.
“There were missing crucial documents, such as the referees’ reports, and the publication vetting. The Committee was simply given application forms; the candidates’ full dossiers were not disclosed. Reports from the Scrutiny Committee were not given to the Committee. Consequently, the Committee is unable to ascertain the candidates’ eligibility. Some applicants for the roles of Professor and Associate Professor were passed over for the interview.”
It also stated, “Acting VC and Acting Registrar mentioned that reports have been misplaced on the Committee’s insistence to produce reports.” The committee noted that on December 10, 2021, acting VC Dr. Rubina Mushtaq asked Dr. Sarim about the referees’ report and other papers from the selection board. A follow-up to this effect was also provided on December 17, 2021.
The report stated, “The Committee is unable to validate appointments of Professors and Associate Professors in the absence of any substantial documentary evidence.” The committee asked the varsity representatives how many sanctioned, open jobs the Selection Board-2021 was held against, but they were unable to provide a satisfactory response.
Similar to this, the board suggested Dr. Syed Shahabuddin be appointed assistant professor even though there were no approved positions open in the Department of International Relations. Furthermore, Dr. Usama Zafar was appointed assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences despite never having applied for the role, after he showed up for an interview for a lecturer position.
In a different instance, several candidates who applied for one topic were allocated to a department or subject for whom they had never applied. The committee noted that improper document examination had occurred and that people with unrelated degrees had been permitted to participate in interviews with experts in other fields.
The committee further stated that “as the absence of other candidates on interview dates cannot be considered as mere coincidence,” those who were already employed by the institution should be given preference. It said, “There’s a good chance the test and interview letters were not distributed to other applicants.”
The committee emphasized that Dr. Muhammad Sarim, the Acting Registrar/Secretary Selection Board 2021, was unavailable to meet with them. Even going to his office proved to be ineffective after multiple phone calls and emails. His attendance record showed that he purposefully avoided meeting with the Committee members while on campus during the Committee’s visit.
As the only qualified applicant interviewed for the position of Professor of Computer Science (BPS-21), the committee noted that it “believes that Dr. Muhammad Sarim maneuvered the Selection Board proceedings by not only getting himself selected but also influencing the Selection Board proceedings to get several other candidates selected and rejected, considered as close to him or otherwise,”
It may also be decided to abandon the appointment procedure in opposition to Fuuast’s 2022 advertisement. “The university may advertise all positions for which Selection Board proceedings were held in 2021 again (in accordance with the current HEC guidelines) and finish the procedure in ninety days. It said, “All candidates who were previously selected may also apply.”
