Daily Times

The favoritism and nepotism is at its peak at University of Home Economics (UHE), Lahore as the university administration has been following many illegal and irregular practices. As per documents available with Daily Times, the UHE authorities has appointed around dozens of employees of various cadres as the credentials of said appointed officials were highly questionable.

The sources revealed that these employees are favorite of Vice Chancellor Dr. Kanwal Ameen due to which they got lucrative positions without fulfillment of the required criteria. The document stated that the process followed for the selection of these appointments was not only biased but also illegal. The document reads that VC Dr Ameen appointed Dr Mishah Jabeen as Head of Department (HoD) of Sciences. However, Dr Jabeen has a degree in Library Sciences. Not only this, Dr Jabeen was also given additional charge of hostels warden and enjoys the facility of official residence. Apart from other close nexus with VC, the informed sources said, Dr Jabeen had been her PhD student as well.

Ahmed Faraz was appointed as Lecturer at the Art and Design Department. He was non-PhD. He was promoted to Assistant Professor after one year, which was a gross violation of set criteria of the Higher Education Commission (HEC). As per HEC criteria a non-PhD can be considered as Assistant Professor only when no PhD candidate is available at the Art and Design. Well informed sources said that the varsity administration deliberately ignored the PhD candidates for the post as some blue-eyed people at the department had been intended to be considered by the administration. The VC also appointed Tahir Ilyas as Additional Director Academics who, as per sources, was fired from College for Women University, Lahore against some serious moral corruption charges.

Not only this, while using her discretionary powers the VC Dr Ameen opened some departments just to accommodate her favorites. As per available information, despite passage of four year commencement of these departments, the students’ enrollment is still not at par with desired standards. Moreover, the administration also gave some Tenured Track System (TTS) faculty members extra duties other than their teaching cadres. As per HEC policy, the TTS teachers can’t serve against any additional charge other than teaching. Such academicians at the UHE included as Dr Tayyaba Sohail, Dr Iram Rubab, Dr Wahab Ali Khan and some others.

As per documents, Dr Tayyaba Sohail is Assistant Professor and Head at the Department of Psychology and Gender Studies. While she has been given additional charge of Director Academics and asked for continuation of her given regular assignment too. Similarly, Dr Iram Rubab of the same Department was assigned duties of In-Charge, Students Affairs in addition to her regular assignment. Dr Wahab Ali Khan is Assistant Professor at Nutrition and Health Promotion Department. The administration recommended him as Director Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialization in addition to his teaching duties.

Not only this, the documents stated, a specific allowance against their additional duties was also approved for these employees.

When Daily Times contacted VC Dr Knawel Jabeen that all allegedly malafide practices were being done under her administrative control, she didn’t respond to the related queries sent to her WhatsApp number.

When approached, Registrar Shujaat Muneef Qureshi denied the facts saying that all decisions are unbiased and based on merit and transparency. When asked about some illicit practices, he said that this is Women University and equipped with strong security arrangements.

The Public Relation Officer (PRO) Dr Muhammad Akmal Somroo also defended the decisions taken by the university, saying that not a single decision was taken against prescribed rules and criteria. “A group of staffers is propagating the matter against the university for their vested interests,” he claimed, adding that there is no other reason behind such propagandas.

He further stated that UHE was upgraded from College of Home Economics in 2017 and preparing girls for home and family living as well as to develop their creative skills.

“The varsity is contributing in preparing mature, professionally equipped, cultured and service-oriented graduates is highly acknowledged throughout the country,” he claimed, adding that to propagate this prestigious intuition working for great women would be highly discrimination.