Employees at Islamic university file petition as Chancellor remains busy with campaign activities

While incumbent President Abdulla Yameen is vying for reelection with the Chancellor of the Islamic University of Maldives, Dr. Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed as his running mate, a petition has been filed against Shaheem at the President's Office.

RaajjeMV has obtained a copy of the petition, which noted that the change to the mandate of 'Kulliyathul Dhiraasathil Islamiyya' in 2015 had altered its work structure.

Noting that this includes creation of new posts and academic salary adjustments, the petition highlighted that there have been no changes to their salaries since 2009.

It said that regulations state that their salary structure should be equal to that of Maldives National University but that there have been no such changes 'to date'.

Despite this, they noted that there is a difference of MVR 1839.72 between administrative officers at the Islamic University and MNU, and an MVR 1671.09 difference between senior administrative officers.

Noting that the matter has been brought to the attention of relevant authorities including the president's office and the finance ministry on numerous occasions, the petition said that the university's management had informed them that the requests had been denied.

While it has been three years since the change to the mandate, the petition emphasized that they have 'yet to be provided a solution or a valid reason'.

The petition filed at the president's office also highlights issues faced due to low number of staffs, adding that there are only three at the university's administrative department. It called to bring all necessary changes to ensure that both universities are 'equal'.

While some employees that signed the petition spoke to RaajjeMV on the condition of anonymity, they said that both matters had been brought to the management's attention multiple times. Noting that the management is yet to provide a solution, they said that they were told that 'things will get better later' and 'to be thankful for what they get'.

While they have remained quiet on the matter for over three years, the employees said that they are not able to do so any longer due to personal situations. They added that their forms seeking flats from those allocated to civil servants 'had been rejected due to low income'.

While the petition was filed at the president's office on September 13, they have yet to receive a response. However, they said that those that signed the petition are being 'sought out and threatened'. As such, the university's deputy vice chancellor for the administrative and finance department has been flagged.

The petition further highlighted the difficulties faced by students including lack of a library and adequate services.

While employees at Islamic University of Maldives have filed this petition, Chancellor Dr. Shaheem opted to remain in position even after accepting the incumbent president's running mate offer. He has since been busy campaigning.