Doubling of quota for ex-Fata students: NA body concerned at non-compliance

A National Assembly panel on Friday expressed grave concerns on non-compliance with the cabinet's decision regarding doubling of quota reserved for the students belonging to the erstwhile FATA in the medical and dental colleges throughout the country despite a lapse of two-and-a-half-year and asked the concerned departments to resolve the matter forthwith.

The National Assembly Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON), which met with MNA Sajid Khan in the chair, discussed the matter in detail.

Senior officers of Health Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, shared the list of adjustment of double seats for FATA students in medical colleges of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and informed the committee that they have been directed by the Senate Standing Committee on SAFRON in its meeting held on 18th November 2019 that the four provinces and AJK will submit the inspection form to the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) by 25th November, 2019.

They further informed the committee that the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) will fulfill formalities within 10 days and come before the Senate Standing Committee on SAFRON meeting proposed to be held on 9th December 2019 with conclusive decision. The committee, however, asked the secretary health, Islamabad, for his personal intervention in the matter and report to the committee accordingly.

The committee further directed Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Home Department as well as Tribal Affairs Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to sit together and resolve the issue of seats reserved for students belonging to the erstwhile FATA in the universities across the country and report to the committee accordingly.

The committee, earlier, expressed its grave concern on non-compliance with the cabinet's decision regarding doubling of FATA reserved seats in the medical/dental colleges throughout the country after lapse of two-and-a-half-year of cabinet's decision made in its meeting held on 2nd March 2017 which is tantamount to injustice with the students of merged districts of erstwhile FATA.

The additional secretary, Irrigation Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa briefed the committee on the all development activities in irrigation sector in tribal districts/sub-divisions in detail.

The committee members including Ali Wazir and Gul Zafar Khan belonging to the tribal districts raised their reservations about the development schemes in erstwhile FATA in irrigating sector and expressed that they have proof about some development projects which are only on paper but not on ground.

On this, the committee directed the additional secretary Irrigation Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to provide list of the development schemes along with exact location and budget details for each scheme to the National Assembly Secretariat at the earliest.

Tariq Hayat, Special Secretary Sports Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, also briefed the committee over the sports activities in merged districts and sub-divisions in detail.

He informed the committee that sports complexes will be constructed at each headquarter of the seven tribal districts and at sub-division level in the coming three years with all latest facilities for athletes to promote sports activates in the tribal districts. He said that Rs 1,000 million have been allocated for the first year for this purpose.

The secretary further informed the committee that a talent hunt programme will soon be launched in the tribal districts in search of the talented sportsmen in the erstwhile FATA so that they could be given the chance to represent Pakistan at the national level.

The committee recommended that the said sports complexes should be constructed in the more thick populated areas and site identification should be on merit after some members pointed out that the locations for some the sports complex have been identified in areas that are less populated.

MNA Mohammad Iqbal Khan pointed out that the payment of the landowners of Shahid Afridi Sports Complex in Khyber tribal district is yet to be made and people are staging protests.

However, the committee was informed that Shahid Afridi Sports Complex in Khyber tribal district was constructed by Pakistan Army and the then army chief Raheel Sharif had inaugurated the complex in 2016 while the then Fata Secretariat had provided Rs 120 million for land acquisition which the MNA maintained stated that it was never paid to the owners of the land.

The meeting was attended by MNAs Saleh Mohammad, Gul Dad Khan, Gul Zafar Khan, Mohammad Iqbal Khan, Abdul Shakoor Shad, Mohammad Jamal-ud-Din and Ali Wazir, besides the officers and officials of the Ministry of SAFRON and its attached departments.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019