ISLAMABAD: The Senate Functional Committee on Less Developed Areas on Friday recommended the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) to issue notification for 265 medical seats for students of Balochistan and erstwhile Fata within a week.

A meeting of the parliamentary body was held under the chairmanship of Muhammad Usman Khan Kakar here on Friday, where in the light of the briefing given by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) on October 12, 2019, the present and future seats for students belonging to less developed districts of Balochistan province and erstwhile Fata in public sector medical universities and colleges were reviewed.

The HEC officials informed the committee that seats in medical colleges and universities have been given to children from less developed areas of Balochistan and erstwhile Fata since 2008 and in 2016-17 there were 29 seats for medical in Fata and Balochistan, which were increased in 2017-18 to 165 seats and allocated 265 seats in 2018-19.

The executive director HEC said that the institution has no objection to this, and is ready to give scholarships. It is also the job of the PMC to notify and implement as well.

At which Kakar while expressing displeasure over non-attendance of the chairman PMC in the committee meeting, said that when the PMC was PMDC, the recommendations of Parliament were implemented.

After becoming PMC, the recommendations of the Parliament are not being implemented.

The chairman had informed the PMC in detail about this issue 20 days ago.

His absence from the committee meeting is a reflection of his seriousness, he added.

The PMC officials told the committee that a meeting had been held in the last few days to double the quota in Fata.

Officials informed the committee that re-inspection was necessary, if seats in medical educational institutes were increased by up to 10 percent.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021