General Kayani, HEC chief met over tea
07, Aug, 2010
By Khawar Ghumman
ISLAMABAD: Chief of the Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani came face to face with Higher Education Commission Chairman Dr Javed Leghari during a recent meeting of the board of governors of a university, at which reservations were expressed over drastic cuts in budgetary grants for public-sector universities.
Gen Kayani attended the meeting in his capacity as chairman of the board of governors of National University of Science and Technology (NUST). He was informed by the HEC chief about the poor financial health of government universities, sources told Dawn.
Dr Leghari is a member of the board. Normally he sends an official of the commission to attend meetings of public-sector universities. But this time he attended the meeting because it was being chaired by the COAS.
Sources privy to the meeting said that after the formal sitting of the board, Gen Kayani spared some time for Dr Leghari and had a cup of tea with him.
Although a top NUST official insisted that it was a routine BoG meeting, observers believe that in view of the ongoing controversy over verification of parliamentarians degrees and the governments pressure on Dr Legharis family, the meeting could not be dismissed as a routine matter.
A NUST official said the focus of the meeting was on financial problems being faced by the university. Despite repeated attempts, ISPR chief Maj-Gen Athar Abbas could not be reached for comments.