ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary committee on Tuesday emphasised the urgent need for the appointment of Comsats University Islamabad’s (CUI) rector to ensure effective decision-making and long-term planning.

The university is being run under ad hoc basis since July 2023 when the then rector Dr Mohammad Afzal stepped down and President Arif Alvi appointed Dean Dr Sajid Qamar as a temporary rector.

Besides these stopgap measures, several positions in the university including registrar, treasurer and controller examinations are being treated in the same way. Moreover, several deans are also serving on acting basis. Interestingly, six directors of campuses are going to complete their four-year term this month.

The president office and the Ministry of Science and Technology should order an inquiry to determine if it was negligence or the said positions were not filled on time with a mala fide attention, said a faculty member of Comsats.

In September last year, after competitive process and interviews, a panel of three educationists were sent to president office for picking one of them for the post of rector.

After a lengthy process, President Asif Ali Zardari, who is the Comsats chancellor, approved the name of Dr Shahid Munir, followed by a notification to this effect by the Ministry of Science and Technology on September 23, 2024. However, Dr Munir did not take the charge, as the same day he was appointed vice chancellor of the University of Engineering and Technology Lahore.

Comsats is a major public sector university which has seven campuses across the country with around 35,000 students.

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Science and Technology, which met in parliament house with MNA Khawaja Sheraz Mehmood in the chair, urged early appointment of the rector Comsats.

Officials from Comsats University gave briefing on the university and its campuses.

The committee said other institutions under the Ministry of Science and Technology, which are currently without permanent heads, must urgently appoint qualified individuals on these positions.

The minister for science and technology informed the committee that the final approval for these appointments lies with the prime minister. Once the prime minister grants approval, all pending appointments will be finalised without delay.

Meanwhile, while discussing issues of National Testing Service (NTS), the committee directed the ministry to submit a comprehensive report detailing any actions taken against NTS in response to allegations of corruption etc.

The committee also instructed the ministry to ensure that funds for projects with approved PC-1 were released promptly to avoid any unnecessary delays in completion of the projects.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2025