ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel on Monday recommended the Higher Education Commission (HEC) for reviewing the policy and must consider only those students of Balochistan and erstwhile FATA for scholarships that in addition to holding a domicile also possess matriculation certificate from the area.
A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) was held on Monday in which the report of the sub-Committee related to physical verification of the development schemes of ADP and AIP funds e-tendering, GIS mapping, pre and post-picture uploading and to resolve the issue of type D hospital of village Shindad, Jawaki, FR Kohat was adopted by the committee.
Chairman Committee Senator Hilalur Rehman chaired the meeting that was attended by Senators Sania Nishtar, Bahramand Khan Tangi, Dost Muhammad Khan, Hidayatullah, and Haji HidayatUllah Khan, and senior officers of the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions, Home Department Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Rehabilitation and Relief Department Khyber Pakhtunkhwa along with all concerned.
Matters taken up by the Committee included status of regularisation of 1,774 contract employees of the Health Department after passing of the Regularization Bill of the National Assembly; Regularization of employees of the Afghan Refugees Organization under the SAFRON Ministry; Details of scholarships awarded by the HEC for under-privileged students of Balochistan and erstwhile FATA; and payment of damages and losses to the FATA residents as per actual demand.
While being briefed by the ministry regarding the regularization of 1,774 contract employees, the committee was informed that the regularization order of 133 employees had been issued. However, work regarding 1,221 employees is underway. The committee while probing the reason for the delay in the process directed the ministry to conduct an inter-department inquiry and submit a report to the committee within 15 days. The matter will be taken up in the next meeting.
Regarding the regularization of employees of the Afghan Refugees Organization (ARO) that falls under SAFRON, the committee was informed that SAFRON was in no position to bear the financial burden of the organisation. The ministry further stated that a meeting was held with both the UNHCR and the Finance Division regarding this, but neither was prepared to take on the responsibility of the ARO employees that in some cases have been serving for more than two decades. The committee, while terming this a gross injustice, directed the ministry to take the matter up again with the Finance Division at the behest of the committee.
Discussing details of scholarships for students of Balochistan and erstwhile FATA the committee stressed the need for HEC policy review and directed that it must consider only those students for scholarships that in addition to holding a domicile also possess a matriculation certificate from the area. The HEC was directed to review the matter in detail and inform the committee of the admission criteria for different professional colleges in the next meeting.
Discussing payment of damages and losses to the FATA residents as per actual demand the committee was of the view that release of funds must be made according to the codal formalities including audits.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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