ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Science and Technology recommended that the headquarters of Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) should not be shifted from Karachi to Islamabad as the said shifting may result in loss to the government exchequer.

The 25th meeting of the committee was held under the chairmanship of Sajid Mehdi.

The additional secretary Ministry of Science and Technology apprised the Committee that under the PSQCA Act of 1996, the headquarter of the authority shall be at Karachi and it may, with the approval of the federal government, setup regional offices at such places as when and where required. He informed that a bill was introduced in the Senate by Senator Kauda Babar for transferring the PSQCA Headquarters from Karachi to Islamabad.

The said bill was referred to the Senate Standing Committee of Science and Technology for consideration and report. He also informed that the committee considered the amendment in Section (2) of the PSQCA Act and passed the bill with the majority.

The additional secretary was of the view that the said shifting is not feasible as it may loss the government exchequer. The committee recommended that the headquarters of PSQCA should not be shifted from Karachi to Islamabad.

While briefing on the updated status of the Hemp Policy, the committee was informed by the additional secretary that a summary regarding National Industrial Hemp and Medicinal Cannabis Policy was submitted to Cabinet Division on 1st September 2022 which was routed through the Ministry of Narcotics Control, Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of National Food Security and Research. He also informed that the Cabinet Division has forwarded the summary to the Prime Minister’s Office for approval.

The committee directed the Ministry of Science and Technology to pursue the case from the Prime Minister’s Office for the issuance of the National Industrial Hemp and Medicinal Cannabis Policy as early as possible.

The committee was also briefed regarding the regularisation of the contractual/daily wages employees of the ministry. The additional secretary apprised that 13 employees of the National Institute of Electronics (NIE) were appointed in a Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) project on contract basis and after the completion of the project their appointments stood terminated as the PSDP project was not converted to the non-development side; therefore, the employees cannot be regularised.

The meeting was attended by Nisar Ahmed, Mukhtar Ahmad Malik, Chaudhry Muhammad Ashraf, Khursheed Ahmed, and Naveed Aamir Jeeva. The senior officers from the Ministry of Science and Technology and the PSQCA, Karachi were also present in the meeting.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023