ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Friday observed that wrongs were being committed in almost all departments but it was not a viable solution to close them down rather they require removal of the faults.
He made these observations while heading a three-Judge bench over the issue of proposed closure of a total of 15,101 Basic Education Community Schools (BECS) having 561,000 enrolled students across the country.
During the course of proceedings, he expressed his displeasure over a statement of Attorney General of Pakistan (AG) Molvi Anwarul Haq about the fate of these educational institutes.
He said everywhere, wrongs were being done in different departments but it was a not a solution to close them down but remedial measures should be adopted to made them functional.
The AG told that the project was not closed but after passage of 18th Amendment, the subject involving National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) and Community Schools project stood devolved to provinces and now it was their responsibility.
He said there were also complaints about a number of ghost schools running under the project.
Expressing his dismay over details about expenditure of Rs66 billion Iqra Education Surcharge, the CJ said that no report had been submitted before them despite their instructions.
He opined that police officers and Patwaris had also hired private people to carry out their assigned tasks but the Court was being informed with 'Ok' reports.
On the other hand, it was height of non seriousness that nobody cared to appear before the apex Court despite its orders, he added.
The bench reserved its judgement after issuing interim order for immediate release of salaries to the staff of these schools.
The bench was seized with hearing of constitutional petitions moved by Fiaqat Hussain and others over proposed closure of community schools.
The project, running all over the country with 15,101 Basic Education Community Schools (BECS) and 561,000 students, was launched under the National Education Foundation project.
After the 18th Constitution Amendment, the Federal government initially handed over the project to the provinces, but decided to close it down after the provinces refused to own it.
Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011
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