Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Dr Javed Laghari is likely to meet Prime Minister Pervez Ashraf this month to discuss the matter related to the appointments and extensions in services of senior officers of the Commission. It was reliably learnt on Thursday that the HEC Chairman along with its 17-member delegation comprising federal secretaries, representatives of provincial governments, and eminent educationists, is likely to meet the Prime Minister to discuss issues like appointments of new senior officers and the commission's financial matters.
The Establishment Division (ED) had written a letter to the HEC in October, in which it had raised questions about appointments and extensions in Management Position Scales (MP Scale) I to III made by the HEC, saying that the recruitment in MP Scales was the sole prerogative of the Prime Minister, but the Commission appointed MP Scales officials without getting approval of the PM and even extended their services in violation of the set rules and procedures. The MP Scale employees of HEC are responsible for scholarships, faculty training, quality assurance, planning and development, and monitoring and evaluation.
According to details Executive Director Dr Sohail Naqvi (MP-I), HRD Adviser Dr Riaz Hussain Qureshi (MP-II), Adviser Monitoring and Evaluation Jalil Ahmed (MP-II), Quality Assurance Agency Managing Director Professor Dr Khwaja Azam Ali (MP-II), Learning Innovation Director General Dr Noor Amna Malik (MP-III), Services DG Anis Sadozai (MP-III), Quality Assurance DG Zia Batool (MP-III), Research and Development DG Dr Muhammad Latif (MP-III), who had recently resigned after serving with the commission for five years, and Information Technology DG Anwar Amjad, who was previously a consultant before taking on MP-III in 2009 and working on the same post for five years, are among those who have been granted extensions in MP scales.
When contacted the HEC Chairman said: "HEC has not violated any law or any rules and procedures. All the decisions are made by a 17-member commission that is nominated by the Prime Minister through collective wisdom and as per rules and powers entrusted to the commission through the HEC Act."