NA body recommended to approve ‘The National University of Technology (Amendment) Act, (govt bill)’

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Science and Technology recommended to approve “The National University of Technology (Amendment) Act, 2024 (government bill)”.

The 2nd meeting of the Standing Committee on Science and Technology was held on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Khawaja Sheraz Mehmood.

The MoST secretary briefed the committee on the ministry’s core mandate, adding that there are five R&D organisations, namely, the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), the Pakistan Council for Renewable Energy Technologies (PCRET), the National Institute of Electronics (NIE), the Council for Works and Housing Research (CWHR), and the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO). The secretary highlighted that PCRET is on the verge of shutting down due to various concerns, including a lack of human resources and its inability to achieve productivity.

The MoST secretary also reported that the PCRET is currently overseen by the PCSIR.

He also briefed on three S&T Universities and S&T promotion organisations, namely, the Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF) and the Pakistan Council for Science and Technology (PCST).

He mentioned three standards and accreditation organisations: the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA), the Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC), and the National Meterology Institute of Pakistan (NMIP), as well as two regulatory authorities: the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) and the Pakistan Halal Authority (PHA).

He added that while R&D research is robust, it is not being commercialised. To address this, there is the Science and Technology Development Corporation (STEDEC), a technology commercialisation corporation of Pakistan. Additionally, there are three inter-governmental organisations: the Committee on Science & Technological Cooperation of the OIC (COMSTECH), the Commission for Cooperation for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS), and the Economic Cooperation Organization Science Foundation (ECOSF).

The MoST secretary also briefed on the budgetary allocations granted to autonomous organisations within the ministry. It was reported that a total of Rs 14.411 billion rupees was allocated to these organisations for the year 2024-2025, with the highest allocation of Rs 4.137 billion to PCSIR, followed by Rs 3.998 billion to NUST. In addition, the secretary briefed on the scope, functioning, achievements, and strategic initiatives of the PCSIR, followed by a briefing on the PNAC Act and the entire organisational performance.

The meeting was attended by MNAs, Irfan Ali Leghari, Ramesh Lal, Muneeba Iqbal, and senior officers of Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Law and Justice.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024