DERA GHAZI KHAN-A period of six years has passed but the Ghazi University still exists in official documentation only, the students regretted at a protest camp here on Tuesday.
Old Post Graduate Boys College is being called Ghazi University (GU) because the Punjab government has failed to build new university building, appoint a permanent vice chancellor (VC) and teachers, and to resolve many issues of university, said protesting students.
Dozens of students of GU set up the protest camp in front of GU gate at Jampur Road College Chowk for the ninth consecutive day on Tuesday but to no avail. Students were protesting against corruption of GU administration and demanding the appointment of regular VC.
Talking to The Nation, the students said that the Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan Act-2012 was passed on 27th of January 2012 by Punjab Assembly. On July 11, 2014 the College of Agriculture DG Khan, BZU Sub-campus, Postgraduate Boys College and Ghazi Khan Medical College were given the status of university but the Punjab government could not properly establish it, they added.
“Five VCs and two VC committees on additional charge from 2014 to date have been appointed to run the GU but all failed,” a students’ leader added. He added that Prof Dr Qaiser Mushtaq, the VC of The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, had additional charge of VC of Ghazi University since 27th of June 2016 but he did not pay attention to establish it.
An officer with condition of anonymity said 557 posts were vacant out of total sanctioned posts of 739. Only two professors are serving the university and 24 posts of professors are lying vacant while all 57 sanctioned posts of associate professor are also lying vacant.
Likewise, 89 posts of assistant professor and 105 of lectures are vacant. Similarly in administrative staff category, key slots of VC, Register, Treasure, Deputy Treasure, Accounts Officer, Controller of Examination, Assistant Controller Examination, Assistant Director Sports, Transport Officer and many other posts are vacant since 2014, he disclosed.
The officer said the Syndicate of GU could hold only two meetings with zero results. First meeting was held on 16 February 2015 and second was held after three years on 1 February 2018.
He disclosed that formal absorption and one grade promotion of all employees of defunct Postgraduate College, college of Agriculture, BZU Campus as per provision of Ghazi University Act are still pending due to non-completion of formalities. The registration process of private students of BA/ BSC and MA/MSc could not be initiated even the university could not make its own statutes, rules and regulations, he said. All the anticipatory actions taken by the vice chancellors are pending for validation in the syndicate, he said.
The officer said approval of budgets for the financial year 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17 and revised budget estimates for 2017-18 have not been approved by the syndicate yet. Status of all expenditures is still illegal, he said. Due to lack of control and command system, former Ex-Treasurer Dr NadeemIqbal misused the position and withdrew the whole amount for his own Post-Doctoral Fellowship Funds bypassing the rules of PHEC. Moreover for embezzlement of Rs2 million, Dr Nadeem used four types of his signatures on different vouchers, he said.