Over 2,300 posts lying vacant in FDE institutions, NA panel told

CDA urged to give plots to public and private schools

ISLAMABAD: The Sub-Committee of National Assembly Standing Committee on Federal Education and Professional Training was informed by the education ministry officials that as many as 2,342 seats were currently vacant in educational institutions run by the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE).

The meeting convened by MNA Ali Nawaz Awan at Parliament House on Tuesday was informed that some 423 educational institutions were being run under FDE and added that out of 13,731 posts 2,342 were lying vacant.

The committee was apprised that as many as 220,000 students were receiving education up to post-graduate level in FG institutions whereas 9,663 teaching and 4,423 non-teaching staff were working there.

Convener of the committee Awan said that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) had vast unoccupied plots measuring one to six acres. He said that the education ministry should constitute a policy to find out which private schools in all sectors of Islamabad could be allotted space in the vacant plots.

The CDA officials informed the committee members that they have allotted some 57 plots to public and private education institutions. However, the officials added, that the institutions have not shifted there. The CDA officials said that 108 more plots would be allotted soon. The committee also decided to review the Right to Education Bill for implementing it in a better way.

Toll tax

Around Rs3 billion toll tax was collected from the seven toll plazas on GT Road between Rawalpindi and Lahore during 2018-19, National Highway Authority Chairman Sikander Qayum told the Senate Standing Committee on Communications.

The authority had collected Rs2.85 billion in 2018-17 and Rs2.58 in 2016-17 toll-tax from these seven toll plazas, the NHA chairman told the meeting of the Senate committee chaired by Senator Fida Muhammad at the Parliament House on Tuesday.

Qayum said that during the last three fiscal years an amount of Rs1.35 billion was spent of repair and maintainance of the Rawalpindi-Lahore stretch of GT Road. He said the authority needs a whopping amount of Rs90 billion every year to keep 12,000 kilometres (kms) of highways and motorways across the country in a pristine condition.

Owing to limited funding, the authority only maintained the important roads, NHA chairman told the Senate panel.

He added that NHA was only receiving Rs40 billion annually and the funds were only spent on repairing roads whose condition had worsened.

At this, Senator Mian Ateeq said that the purpose of toll tax collection was to maintain the roads and pointed out that the tax rate had hiked sharply over the past few years. He added that there should be some extent to it and demanded to cut the tax rate where it was possible.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 25^th, 2019.