A controversy has surfaced regarding the decade-long tenure of a 68-year-old Project Director at the Pak-Austria Fachhochschule Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology, Haripur, a public-sector degree-awarding institution in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Despite the physical completion of the institute several years ago, Project Director Naseer Khan continues to hold his position, a situation that has raised significant questions regarding administrative transparency and adherence to service rules.
The matter has gained further scrutiny following the emergence of a provincial government summary, which reveals that the removal of Naseer Khan was formally approved. However, in a move that has surprised observers, no official notification was ever issued to implement that decision. Subsequent disclosures suggest that he was later absorbed into the university’s permanent structure. Critics of the arrangement argue that once the institute was established and a Rector was appointed, the functional necessity for a Project Director ceased to exist, rendering the continued extension of the role redundant.
In his defence, 68-year-old Naseer Khan maintained that he is still actively serving as the Project Director. He explained that the institute’s original PC-I (Project Cycle-I) is currently under consideration for an extension, though it is being reviewed under a reduced cost framework. When approached for clarification, the Rector of the Pak-Austria Institute declined to provide a separate statement, noting that the version provided by the Project Director represents the official position of the institution on the matter.
