LAHORE: A meeting of the Executive Council of the Academic Staff Association (ASA) held on Tuesday in the committee room of the University Club. The meeting was presided over by Dr Amjad Abbas Khan Magsi and Secretary Dr Muhammad Islam moderated the proceedings.
The Council took stock of the funding and tax rebate issue. The council expressed gratitude for the support from political parties, media, and civil society for the genuine cause of higher education. Appreciating the role of FAPUASA, the Council thanked the government for adhering to the demands of the teaching fraternity.
The Council demanded from the provincial government of Punjab to allocate funds of Rs 50 billion for the universities on the pattern of Sindh and Balochistan, who has allocated 35 billion and 5 billions for the universities in Sindh and Balochistan, respectively.
The Council expressed deep concerns over the prevailing administrative affairs of Punjab University. The President and Secretary had written a letter to the Selection Board for bringing more transparency and giving wheitage to the teaching experience in selection criteria for Professors and Associate Professors.
The Syndicate, in its meeting held on April 30, 2024, referred that letter by ASA to Selection Board for giving opportunity of personal hearing to the President / Secretary regarding the selection criteria.
The council severely criticised the attitude of the incumbent Acting VC / PVC, who, despite repeated reminders, did not place the letter before selection boards despite clear directions from the Syndicate.
The issues of transparency resulted in orders by the Chancellor to halt the Selection Boards. The Council reiterated that if the criteria of selection had been made transparent, the sorry state of affairs could have been avoided.
The term of elected Members of Syndicate is about to end. The Council demanded from the Registrar of the University, being the Returning Officer, to issue the schedule for Syndicate elections. The gap in the tenure of the elected representatives may prove harmful for the protection of the rights of the faculty and the university.
The council deplored the delay in payments of Leave Encashment of the BPS faculty and the PBI and Honorarium of the TTS faculty. The Council showed its dismay over none issuing of research grants for the year 2023, non payment of Incentive Awards, Performance Evaluation Awards, despite repeated reminders to the Acting VC / PVC.
The Council discussed the developments relating to Town 3 and decided to take it up further with the Management Committee for further line of action.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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