This is apropos a Business Recorder op-ed "Ministry of Science & Technology: Rationalisation of institutions - II" carried by the newspaper on Saturday. The writer, Farhat Ali has strongly advocated his case through which he urges government to make government bodies lean but effective.
According to him, "the urgency for achieving excellence in science and technology for the growth of the new-born nation was recognised in the early years of Pakistan. In 1950s, the office of Science Advisor was created by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan and Dr Salimuzzaman Siddiqui was appointed as the first Science Advisor."
The question, however, is: What have we achieved in the diverse fields of science and technology in over 50 years? That we are not a research-oriented people is a fact that has found its best expression from government's woefully allocations to education sector.