Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Instead replacing the person on the Chair, very surprisingly Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU)’s administration has abolished the Chair which had been awarded by a private oil company.

According to documents available with Daily Times, Mari Gas Company Limited (MGCL) (now Mari Petroleum Company Limited) awarded the Mari Chair to the university for the university’s Department of Earth Science (DES) on May 28, 2012. An efficient researcher Dr. Zulifqar Ahmed was selected for the chair through an open selection procedure.

Surprisingly, the current administration of the QAU has abolished the Mari Chair. The sources alleged that the decision had been made due to personal grudges of the Vice Chancellor Javed Ashraf against Dr.Zulifqar Ahmed.

“Instead replacing of Dr.Ahmed with any other person, the VC abolished the chair as a whole that was a very strange measure,” said an official on the condition of anonymity.

According the ten-page MOA, a copy of which was obtained by this correspondent, the objectives of the establishment of the Mari Chair in the QAU’s DES were to maintain undergraduate, post graduate and PhD programmes in line with those of leading international universities and to update the programmes according to the requirements of the petroleum industry in consultation with the MGCL.

The MGCL would provide an annual grant of Rs 3.94 million with the consideration of annual inflation of 15 per cent, subject to the continuity of the MOA. The declared amount includes the salaries of the Chair and the Office Assistant, their monthly allowances and other expenditure. After signing the mutual agreement, the university had advertised the Mari Chair in the national press offering desiring candidates to apply through an open merit procedure.

Several candidates appeared for the advertised slot. However, Dr. Zulifqar Ahmed was successful whose qualifications matched the requirements of the varsity. Since then Dr. Ahmed served as the Mari Chairman for three years.

The eligibility criteria (qualification and experience) for the selection of MGCL Chair was similar as that of the university in appointing a full professor. In this perspective the candidate should have a PhD in Geophysics from a recognised foreign university (B): Minimum 15 years of active teaching and operational research experience at the university level or with a reputed research organisation (C): Strong research/industry background (D): Fifteen years research publications in referred scientific journals preferably in international journals (ISI) (E): Capability to integrate undergraduate and graduate programmes into industrial partnerships (F): Should have supervised at least one PhD.

The selection committee of the QAU finalised the name of Dr.Ahmed with approval from other competent bodies known as the Selection Board and the Syndicate.

Under the MOA, the Chair would enhance the academic activities, organise the visits of faculty and field engineers to the field/campus to share the latest information as well field visits of students of the DES at undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD level and providing them with the necessary assistance/guidance to deepen their theoretical and practical knowledge.

A senior administrative official in the QAU said that to get a Chair from any company, firm or industry was a very difficult task, adding that success in achieving the Chair was a matter of honour for the respective university.

According to the Mari Chair’s elimination notification, the decision was made on the recommendations of Chairperson DES, Dr.Mona Lisa. The university’s faculty in a written request to the VC, also expressed concerns over the decision made just on solo recommendations of the Chairperson.

The VC, Dr.Ashraf, told this scribe that the expenditures being done on the Chair were not much useful. “To make the funding amount more productive, we, on the recommendations of the DES Chairperson decided to abolish the Chair and have requested to the MGCL’s head, Lt (Gen) Raza Muhammd Khan, for provision of a cash amount instead the Mari Chair”.

The Secretary MGCL, Asad Rabbani, rejected the cash payment proposals. He said that after the expiring of the agreed MOA, the QAU administration insisted of the company management for cash payments instead of the Chair. However, the MGCL denied to do this and wrote them for provision of a proposal for the renewal of existing agreement. “The university has not replied so far,” Rabbani said.