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Ex-MAO College principal committed irregularities
'Ex-MAO principal committed irregularities'
Lahore, July 12, 2008: A former MAO College principal gave a free hand to a
political student group to use college premises for their activities and
manipulated admissions against merit after extorting hefty amounts from the
candidates, according to an inquiry report by the Education Department.Being the
final authority to allow admissions, former principal Maksudul Hasan Bukhari was
"very much part of illegal activities" carried out by his "front men" in the
college.
The inquiry was launched to look into the complaints regarding
admissions to BCom classes over and above the allocated seats as well as
extortion from candidates for allowing 'out-of-merit' admissions.
The
report submitted to the Punjab higher education secretary says the former
principal "purposely" kept the admissions' record in shambles to support their
motives. It said the authorities kept the admission process continuing till
February this year, much beyond the last date of admission notified by the
Punjab University.
Thirty-five students recorded their statements, saying
they had given Rs15,000 each to activists of a student group, named in the
report as Muslim Students Federation, to get admission. The administration gave
two college rooms to the student group's office-bearers – Shahid Sheikh, Shahid
Chaudhry, Sunny Prince and Iqbal Khan.
It said the students union was
running a parallel admission office in the college with the connivance of the
administration. In a police raid after a violent incident, 300 admission forms
were found in the union "office".
The report said the marks obtained by
the majority of the students were far below than the marks declared on merit
lists of the college.
Mr Bukhari submitted his reply to the probe body,
but that was contrary to the facts. The principal stated that the number of
allocated seats for BCom part-I session 2007-09 was increased by the Punjab
University, for which, he attached letters pertaining to 2006-07.
He also
denied the existence of any students union operating in the college during his
tenure, the report said, but the factual position was that Mr Bukhari patronised
the student group and allowed them to use two rooms in the college as well as
permitted them to make admissions. As the former principal presented a college
admission advertisement to the inquiry committee, where general public was
issued a warning to guard against those operating in the college illegally, the
inquiry report said the document turned out to be his confession of his
involvement in illegal admissions.
The former principal submitted that he
had admitted students more then the allocated strength on "verbal" orders of the
Punjab governor, the chief minister and the education minister. The inquiry
officer states that the verbal permission of an authority cannot be
implemented.
The inquiry officer also revealed that Mr Bukhari did not
allow the constitution of an admission committee and its notification in the
college prospectus to function.
The Punjab University has been taking
strong exception to Mr Bukhari's violation of rules and regulations times and
again.
A university senior official said that the MAO College had been
admitting students over and above the sanctioned seats limit since 2004. In
2006, he said, the PU got an undertaking from Mr Bukhari that the practice would
not be repeated. But, he said, the college admitted 2,500 students against
sanctioned 1,450 seats. This time, he said, the university put its foot down and
refused to entertain any admission made above the sanctioned
intake.
Punjab higher education additional secretary (academics) Maqsood
Mumtaz said that the department had received the inquiry report and was in
contact with the incumbent MAO College principal.
Mr Mumtaz said, "The
department is examining how to proceed in the case."
He also said the MAO
College's incumbent principal had recently met higher education secretary Arifa
Subuhi and informed her that all affected students' fees had been returned. He,
however, admitted that the hefty amount extorted by the union activists had not
been returned to the affected students. Dawn
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Unions use college walls to publicise manifestoes
Lahore: Massive wall chalking on boundary walls of public sector colleges,
which increased soon after the government decided to lift the ban on student
unions, is being employed by several rival unions to publicise their control
zones.
One can easily know which organisation is having control over a
particular college by simply reading large-font slogans written on its boundary
walls.
During a survey, it is learnt that wall chalking outside most of
the colleges has been done by the Muslim Students Federation (MSF-N), student
wing of PML-N, while Islami Jamiat Tulaba (IJT) and People's Students Federation
(PSF) have also been doing wall chalking on boundary walls of the colleges where
they have majority.
Some of the colleges where massive wall chalking by
different student organisations could be seen include Government Islamia College
Civil Lines, Government College Township, Islamia College Railway Road,
Government Dayal Singh College, Government College of Science Wahdat Road, Govt
College of Technology Raiwind, Government College of Commerce Allama Iqbal Town
etc.
Apart from sloganeering in connection with motto of a particular
student group, the wall chalking also includes slogans in favour of top
leadership of a particular political party.
It is pertinent to mention
here that wall chalking on boundary walls of Government MAO College has recently
been removed following an incident in which some outsiders tried to take control
of the college from an already operating student organisation, previously
associated with the PML-Q government.
A senior official of the Government
College (GC) Township, seeking anonymity, said no student organisation existed
in the college, adding however as per the slogans on the college walls, it was a
common perception among the people that a student organisation, MSF-N, was
operating in the college.
He maintained that some activists of the said
student group had asked the college administration to allow them working inside
the college, adding the request was denied as no notification had yet been
issued to colleges in this regard.
"Despite our refusal, the student
organisation managed to do wall chalking on the college walls," he
added.
A number of people from different walks of
life expressed concerns over massive wall chalking on the boundary walls of
public sector colleges saying government should ensure sanctity of educational
institutions and should not allow any student organisation to completely cover
the college walls just to promote themselves and the political party with which
they are affiliated.
Rizwan Khan, a citizen said massive wall chalking
on boundary walls of government colleges was not a good initiative on part of
student organisations, adding it appeared as if a college was party-office of a
particular political party and not a place of learning. A principal of a
college, seeking anonymity, said the higher education department should take
notice of the prevailing trend, adding colleges' administration were unable to
prevent student groups from such activities because of support from their
political parties. The News
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| Education News | | Updated: 14 Oct, 2014 |
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