'Violation of criteria' revealed in selection of UHS, KEMU VCs.

LAHORE -- The appointment of vice chancellors of the two out of five leading public sector medical universities of Punjab turned 'controversial' as the mark sheets prepared by the search committee, which had completed the selection process in May last year, revealed alleged 'violation of the laid down criteria'.

Some official documents pertaining to the search committee's recommendations recently submitted by the Punjab health department in the court showed anomalies, particularly in the appointment of the VCs of the University of Health Sciences (UHS) and the King Edward Medical University (KEMU), Lahore.

In July 2022, the then Punjab chief minister Hamza Shahbaz had appointed VCs of five leading public sector medical universities after the health department moved a summary following the recommendations of the search committee headed by retired Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jaillani.

According to the documents, the then PML-N government had apparently bypassed the top scorers, who got the highest -- 75 and 74 marks -- during the selection process conducted by the search committee, and instead appointed the candidates having 63 and 68 marks as UHS and KEMU VCs, respectively.

A copy of the documents pertaining to the recommendations of the search committee regarding all the shortlisted candidates (senior doctors) is available with Dawn.

Punjab Health Secretary Dr Ahmad Javed Qazi confirmed that his department submitted the official documents to the court and said it would follow the court verdict in the matter.

According to the documents, the search committee conducted scrutiny of the documents of nearly 50 candidates, applying for the varsities' top slots, and after due process, interviewed those shortlisted in phases and then furnished recommendations to the Punjab government based on the marks it allocated to each candidate under various heads/categories, including medical qualifications, experience etc.

Accordingly, the then chief minister Hamza Shahbaz had issued a notification on July 22, 2022 and appointed retired dean of the Children's Hospital, Lahore, Prof Ahsan Waheed Rathore as VC of the UHS, Lahore, former principal of the Services Institute of Medical Sciences Prof Mahmood Ayaz as VC of the KEMU, ex-KEMU VC Prof Khalid Masood Gondal as VC of the Fatima Jinnah Medical University (FJMU), Prof Mohammad Umar and Prof Zafar Chaudhry as VCs of Rawalpindi Medical University (RMU) and Faisalabad Medical University (FMU), respectively.

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