A seminar titled “Humans without Human Rights” was held at Government College University Lahore under the auspices of its newly formed Kashmir Society to discuss how the current policy of Pakistan was able or unable to address the changing situation in the Indian Occupied Kashmir.
Following the signing of MoU between University of Sargodha and Hanban (Confucius Institute Headquarters) in Beijing in the presence of Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chinese premier Le Keqiang on October 8, 2019, Vice Chancellor Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad and Director Pakistan Institute of China Studies Dr Fazalur Rahman participated in the “2019 International Chinese Language Conference” held at Changsha, China.
Defying the austerity measures of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan is hiring consultants on high salaries, Academia learned on Monday.
According to reliable sources at HEC, the Commission is hiring around 10 consultants against BPS 21 and paying them Rs 300,000 to Rs4 400,000 per month besides other perks and privileges. Other perks and privileges include luxury cars, TADA and other BPS 21 facilities.
The sources said that there are already more than 800 employees, a number of advisors and nine Director Generals (DGs) working in HEC. “This hiring of 10 consultants is just being done to oblige some people. This type of hiring is being done for the first time in the 15 years history of HEC,” sources said.
It is pertinent to mention here that HEC had asked universities for austerity measures after the government cut the HEC budget. The decision affected 194 universities across the country and it was widely criticized by the academicians.
According to sources the hiring of these consultants is illegal as per Act of HEC which claimed that no person other than HEC Chairman and Executive Director can be member of HEC. The Act further says that all the employees should be hired as per the rules and regulations of the federal government. However, these consultants are hired on a temporary basis.
These consultants include Consultant for Policy and Legal Affairs Dawood Muneer, Consultant ITMIS Rizwan Rashid, Consultant Finance Arshad, IT Consultant Asif, Consultant National Academy for Higher Education Sara Zaman, Consultant Institution Reforms Fazal Abbas, Consultant CPEC Gen (Retd) Muhammad Asghar, Legal Advisor Mansoor Tariq and others.
When contacted Chairman HEC Dr Tariq Banuri said that all these consultants were hired after the approval of Commission and these hiring were on temporary basis.
The Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) has called for a conference on December 8 to debate the code of conduct for student unions hinted by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Government has changed the master plan of the federal capital to establish a university at the Prime Minister House. The federal cabinet on Tuesday approved to change the master plan of the city to fulfil the promise made by premier Imran khan during his election campaign 2018.
Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA) has appealed Prime Minister Imran Khan to look into the budgetary cuts of higher education and revert the decision, pressing him to allocate funds per the demands of the HEC.