Financial irregularities and academic irregularities in the first government law university in Sindh

Karachi: Financial irregularities and mismanagement in academic and administrative matters have come to light in Sindh’s first state-run “law” university.

The university has also been without a permanent head for almost 6 months. These irregularities and mismanagement have been reported in recent years and it has been revealed that the university administration has used the endowment fund established for students and academia to issue salaries and loans to non-teaching staff who are pursuing doctorates illegally. Non-teaching employees have been included in the “Board of Advanced Studies and Research” which assigns PhD allowances.

More employees than the prevailing ratio have been recruited in the university, while the vice-chancellor appointed the dean himself using the powers of the chief minister. The above disclosures have been made on the occasion of the inspection of the Charter Inspection and Evaluation Committee, a subsidiary of Sindh HEC, which has now been made a regular part of the “Inspection Report”.

It should be remembered that the first government university of law established in the name of Shaheed Democracy “Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto University of Law (Zabul) Karachi” ZABUL was established in 2015 through the assembly charter and its first vice chancellor was Justice (R) Qazi Khalid. His tenure was not extended and later the Sindh Government appointed Justice (R) Rana Shamim as the Vice Chancellor of the University.

His tenure also ended in the middle of last year. The government of Sindh did not give them an extension and the caretaker government of Sindh, which ended recently, gave the additional charge of a medical university, Dr. Saeed Qureshi, vice chancellor of Daumedical University.

The search committee that recommended the names of the vice chancellors in the public universities of Sindh had sent the names of co-teaching experts to the caretaker chief minister in connection with the interviews of the vice chancellor candidates in this university, but the names were not approved. The committee was able to start its work for the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor and it is thought that this university, established in one regime of the PPP, saw its decline after its rise in the second regime of the same party.

It should be noted that for the first time during the tenure of the current chairman of Sindh HEC, the inspection series of private as well as public universities in the province has also been started and this was the first time when a government authority under the chairmanship of Sindh HEC Dr. Tariq Rafi, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto University. Inspection of off-law. In addition to the subject experts in the inspection team, the heads of the universities include Jinnah Sindh University Vice Chancellor Dr. Amjad Siraj, Sindh Agricultural University Tando Jam Vice Chancellor Dr. Fateh Marri, University of Karachi Vice Chancellor Professor Dr. Khalid Iraqi, Sindh University Jamshoro Vice Chancellor Dr. Taha Hussain while Faqir Lakhko of the College Education Department is also included in the inspection team. was done.

On the other hand, when “Express” contacted the registrar of the university, Brigadier (Rtd) Kamran Jalil, and tried to find out his attitude, he said that “Department of Universities and Boards should be questioned regarding the delay in the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor.” Even in the absence of a permanent vice-chancellor, the university is running well. When the university registrar was asked about the Charter Inspection Committee’s observation on misuse of endowment funds and other matters, he said, “Who is telling you this?” I am not sure, for further queries contact the University PRO”

On the other hand, when contacted, the Acting PRO of the university said that “all matters in the university are being conducted in accordance with the law and regulations and with the required approvals.”

It should be noted that according to a member of the Charter Inspection Committee, the inspection report of the university has clarified all the irregularities and irregularities found there and the report members have stated in their observation that serious financial irregularities have come to light in the university. While misuse of endowment funds established for academic use is a serious crime, it is also stated that the meeting of the Finance and Planning Committee of the University is held without the nominee of the Chief Minister, Advance salaries and honorariums are issued without the permission or approval of the competent authority.

Regarding the statutory bodies of the university, revelations have come out that no permanent director has been appointed for the Quality Enhancement Cell (QEC) of the university since its establishment. According to this, only the Vice-Chancellor, Dean, Chairman and Professors can be members of the institution, while the office staff and co-chairman have also been included in the institution. There is no Board of Studies at the departmental level in the university and matters are presented directly to the Board of Faculty. It is known that there is a business school in the university even though there is no scope in the statutes.

In relation to the appointments of teachers, it has been said that the appointment of associate professor has been done contrary to HEC rules, the associate professor is being given 75 thousand rupees as extra remuneration, while the non-teaching staff is being given PhD allowance. Despite the non-existence of the position, this position is being used here. Further, questions have been raised on the Islamabad, Sukkur, Larkana and Hyderabad campuses of Braun University and it has been asked how a university with a provincial charter can establish its campus in the federal capital.

The appointment of non-teaching employees against the rules and beyond the need has also been revealed in the university, which includes both permanent and ad-hoc employees, while there is a shortage of faculty in the department of criminology. According to the rule, the ratio of teachers to employees in the university should be 1:1.5, while in this university The said ratio has gone up to 1:2.4 and there are 52 teachers out of 191 employees. .

Similarly, the university’s industry partnerships and international linkages with the relevant industries are very limited.

“Express” contacted Sindh HEC Chairman Dr. Tariq Rafi in this regard and he said, “There is no permanent VC in the Law University. The former caretaker government gave the charge to the vice chancellor of a medical university. I had sent that a concerned person should be given the charge of the Dean of Law of University of Karachi.

He questioned how a vice chancellor of a medical university would bring changes in a law university. He further said that the summary was sent before the term of the former vice-chancellor ended, so that the process of recruitment could start here through advertisement, but after the advertisement, the summary of the appointment of two expert members in the search committee remained pending for several months. The summary was not approved. He confirmed that the former vice chancellor’s salary was exceptional which would probably be the highest salary in the public sector not only in Sindh but in the whole of Pakistan.