Senate panel irked over delay in quota for tribal students

Senate committee chairman directs issue to be resolved at earliest

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) expressed displeasure on delay in doubling of quota for students of Newly Merged Tribal Districts (NMTD) in medical universities and colleges.

The committee directed the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) and ministry of SAFRON to resolve the issue until the next meeting.

Senator Taj Muhammad Afridi was heading the committee meeting at Parliament House in Islamabad on Monday.

Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) Director Dr Imdad Ali said that the matter was underway and a decision on it was expected to come out during the current week.

The committee chairman directed to resolve the issue at earliest without wasting any more time.

Senator Attaur Rehman said that tribal areas were merged in haste without any arrangements for health, education, and employment. He lamented that the two precious years of students got wasted in the meantime.

The HEC officials informed the meeting that the universities, as well as Pakistan Engineering Council, had doubled the quota however PMDC has yet to take a decision in this regard.

At this, Senator Mohsin Aziz remarked that the issue was pending since 2017. The committee directed the ministry of SAFRON, HEC, and PMDC to call an internal meeting for resolution of the issue and present a report to the committee.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 8^th, 2019.