Contentious issue: PAC panel defers debate on CIIT dual degree plan
PTI’s Shafqat Mehmood asserted the issue did not fall under PAC purview
Syed Naveed Qamar, MNA Convener chairing the PAC Sub Committee meeting. PHOTO: APP
ISLAMABAD:
A sub-panel of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly suspended further discussions on Thursday on the controversial dual degree programme (DDP) of Comsats Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) after holding three hearings.
The PAC sub-committee contended that the matter did not fall under its purview.
The discussion on Thursday further confused the sub-committee as they were mandated to resolve the issue in accordance with the decision made in the PAC meeting held on October 8 last year.
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and PAC chairperson Khurshid Shah formed a three-member sub-committee on May 5 to resolve the issue, which has over the past few years become a contentious issue with the Higher Education Commission (HEC).
The sub-committee is headed by PPP’s Naveed Qamar and includes PTI’s Shafqat Mahmood and Junaid Anwaar Chaudhry of PML-N.
On Thursday, HEC’s chairperson Dr Mukhtar Ahmad briefed the sub-committee about the issue and programme. Mehmood asked Rector of CIIT Junaid Zaidi if prior permission was sought from the HEC and also if other requirements were fulfilled.
Zaidi answered in the affirmative, but went on to say: “We committed a blunder initially by going ahead in (over) confidence by not seeking written permission from the HEC” but otherwise, their documentation and other processes were complete.
Zaidi and Ahmad and the HEC’s Executive Director did not budge from their stances, but none of them responded when asked about the fate of students who got foreign degrees which could not now be verified so they were of no use.
At one point, members of the PAC told both Zaidi and Ahmed to forget about the past, but both officials remained adamant. Mehmood argued that HEC should review all governing laws and if there was a need, the commission should remove all legal loopholes, ensuring that such incidents did not recur in future.
When Qamar realised that the debate was not going anywhere, he agreed with Mehmood’s assertion that the issue did not fall under the purview of PAC. They suggested officials of both organizations should sit together and resolve the issue.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 13th, 2016.
A sub-panel of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly suspended further discussions on Thursday on the controversial dual degree programme (DDP) of Comsats Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) after holding three hearings.
The PAC sub-committee contended that the matter did not fall under its purview.
The discussion on Thursday further confused the sub-committee as they were mandated to resolve the issue in accordance with the decision made in the PAC meeting held on October 8 last year.
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and PAC chairperson Khurshid Shah formed a three-member sub-committee on May 5 to resolve the issue, which has over the past few years become a contentious issue with the Higher Education Commission (HEC).
The sub-committee is headed by PPP’s Naveed Qamar and includes PTI’s Shafqat Mahmood and Junaid Anwaar Chaudhry of PML-N.
On Thursday, HEC’s chairperson Dr Mukhtar Ahmad briefed the sub-committee about the issue and programme. Mehmood asked Rector of CIIT Junaid Zaidi if prior permission was sought from the HEC and also if other requirements were fulfilled.
Zaidi answered in the affirmative, but went on to say: “We committed a blunder initially by going ahead in (over) confidence by not seeking written permission from the HEC” but otherwise, their documentation and other processes were complete.
Zaidi and Ahmad and the HEC’s Executive Director did not budge from their stances, but none of them responded when asked about the fate of students who got foreign degrees which could not now be verified so they were of no use.
At one point, members of the PAC told both Zaidi and Ahmed to forget about the past, but both officials remained adamant. Mehmood argued that HEC should review all governing laws and if there was a need, the commission should remove all legal loopholes, ensuring that such incidents did not recur in future.
When Qamar realised that the debate was not going anywhere, he agreed with Mehmood’s assertion that the issue did not fall under the purview of PAC. They suggested officials of both organizations should sit together and resolve the issue.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 13th, 2016.