ISLAMABAD: January 6, 2023: A National Assembly panel, on Friday, asked the Ministry of Interior to vacate the FATA House located in Islamabad and handover its possession to the government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, being the property of the province after the merger of the FATA with the province.
The National Assembly Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON), which met with Mohammad Jamaluddin in the chair discussed the issue of FATA House, Islamabad and recommended to the Ministry of Interior to vacate the FATA House, Islamabad and handover its possession to the government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
The panel observed that after the merger of the FATA with the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, it is now the property of the province and its possession should be handed over to the province and submit back report to the committee, accordingly.
The committee discussed the agenda regarding the non-inclusion of seminary students, as well as, students from erstwhile FATA into the Prime Minister’s Laptop scheme in detail. In this regard, Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmad informed the panel that 9,500 laptops were given to the students were belonging to erstwhile FATA under the laptop scheme.
He further said that seminary students do not come under the policy and the HEC only awards laptops to university students.
After the briefing, the committee recommended to the HEC chairman to sit together with the management of Wafaqul Madaaris to amend the existing policy and also include the seminary students in the laptop scheme.
The committee recommended that the DEO Tribal District South Waziristan would be invited to the next meeting for explaining the reasons for not submitting the feasibility report and PC-Is of establishment of 39 primary schools of boys and girls under ADP No 389/210339 in South Waziristan while the DEO South Waziristan had given assurance in the previous meeting of the Committee that the PC-Is of the said schools of South Waziristan would be submitted to the Education Department, Government of KP as soon as possible.
The committee further recommended to the District Education Officers (F/M) of Tribal District South Waziristan to submit the PC-Is of the above-mentioned schools within one week to the Elementary and Secondary Education Department, Government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Peshawar and submit back report to the committee accordingly.
The panel was also briefed by the secretary Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC), Islamabad on the increase of medical/ dental seats in medical/ dental colleges across the country for erstwhile FATA students in view of the cabinet’s decision made in its meeting held on 2nd March 2017.
The PMC secretary informed the committee that the seats have been increased only for session 2022-23. The committee appreciated the PMC on quick response in allocating the additional seats; however, it recommended to the PMC to issue one-time notification for doubling of seats in medical/ dental colleges across the country by 2028, so as to resolve the issue once and for all.
The committee further recommended that health secretaries of the provinces and Azad Jammu and Kashmir would be invited in the next meeting in order to resolve the medical/ dental seats for erstwhile FATA students across the country forever.
Officials of the Urban Policy and Planning Unite, P&D Department of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, briefed the panel on the master plan for Wana Urban centre of Lower Waziristan and Miranshah/ Mir Ali urban centres of North Waziristan. However, the master plan for the urban centre of Upper Waziristan tribal district will be developed phase-II of the project which shall be initiated before June 2023.
The committee recommended that headquarter of Upper Waziristan tribal district should be established at Tehsil Ladha Waziristan as Ladha is the most feasible location than the Spinkai Raghzi.
The meeting was attended by Mohammad Afzal Khokhar, Chaudry Mohammad Ashraf, Naveed Ameer Jeeva, Afreen Khan, Nasiba Channa, and Mohsin Dawar.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023