Double higher education quota: HEC slammed over failure to implement cabinet decision

The Senate Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) on Monday slammed the Higher Education Commission (HEC) for its alleged failure to implement the federal cabinet's decision to double the higher education quota for the students belonging to erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

"It seems that there is no government at all or the government is probably in a deep slumber," remarked Taj Muhammad Afridi while presiding over the committee's meeting.

The committee members observed that the HEC and government departments are creating unnecessary hurdles in ensuring the double quota for ex-Fata students in different medical colleges, engineering universities and relevant educational institutions.

"This is highly condemnable attitude. The future of bright students of the erstwhile Fata is falling prey to the bureaucratic apathy as well as indifference of the political leadership that is in power. We can't let the things go on like this," Afridi said.

The committee members said that the federal cabinet, more than two years ago, decided to double the higher education quota of students from the erstwhile Fata but the HEC is using delaying tactics, on one pretext or another, in implementing the cabinet's decision.

The committee decided to hold regular meetings from October 21 and onwards to highlight the matter. "I will personally take up the matter with Prime Minister Imran Khan. The HEC is good for nothing if it cannot ensure a bright future for our youth from former tribal areas," the committee's chairman said.

Federal Secretary SAFRON Ministry Muhammad Aslam assured the committee that he would soon convene a meeting with the senior officials of HEC and Home and Tribal Affairs Department Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to resolve the matter.

It merits mentioning here that the federal cabinet led by the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on March 2, 2017 had approved to twice the quota of students from the north western tribal region for a period of 10 years.

Despite the lapse of more than two years, the federal cabinet's decision is yet to be fully implemented.

In a landmark move, the 25th Amendment that allowed Fata's merger with KP was passed by Pakistan's Parliament and subsequently by the KP Assembly in May 2018. The federal government has allocated Rs 152 billion (the entire amount earmarked for development projects) while the KP government has allocated Rs 162 billion (Rs 83 billion for development projects and Rs 79 billion for non-development expenses) for the seven former ex-FATA districts during the ongoing fiscal year including Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Kurram, Orakzai, North Waziristan and South Waziristan.

The combined allocation by federal and KP governments to the erstwhile in the current year is Rs 314 billion. Among the steps taken in the seven new districts in KP were the abolition of Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), replacement of political and assistant political agents with commissioners and deputy commissioners, extension of the jurisdiction of Supreme Court and High Courts to the new districts, streamlining the working of police department, streamlining the taxation system as well as a host of other initiatives.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019