Senate panel takes up issues related to S&T ministry

Ministry officials say appointment to eight department heads will be made soon

ISLAMABAD:

The Senate standing committee on science and technology on Tuesday expressed its annoyance after it was informed that currently eight departments of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) were working without a permanent head.

A committee meeting took up various issues, including irregularities in seniority list of the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), details of the on-going corruption cases at the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) and pending promotion cases.

Speaking during the meeting, committee chairman Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan said that eight departments of the ministry were running their affairs without permanent heads but nobody was taking the matter seriously.

The ministry officials, however, informed the committee that the names of the heads of department had been finalised while the appointment of two heads of department would be notified shortly. Other appointments would also be announced soon, the officials added.

The meeting commenced with details of a fact-finding committee report regarding irregularities in the seniority list of the officers of the PCSIR. The committee was informed that the matter was resolved as per recommendations of the committee.

The committee was also informed that a list of all eligible promotion cases had been submitted to the ministry. Senator Mushtaq said that the organisations under the ministry must ensure that a system had been in place to ensure promotions on time so that such disputes did not arise.

While discussing the corruption cases at the PSQCA, the committee took strict notice of officers not being suspended during investigations. It was stressed that the suspension of the such officers was important to ensure transparency.

While discussing the progress on the initiation of a dual-degree programme by the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (Comsats), the committee directed the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to withdraw the court case against it.

The development of a system for promotion of science and technology and the status of the on-going projects were also discussed. The committee held the view that development of a central ecosystem that was governed by a common platform was imperative for the progress of the country.

Details of six projects of the ministry were shared with the committee during the meeting. Senator Mushtaq lauded the on-going projects under the umbrella of the ministry and said that all possible steps must be taken so that the timelines of projects were met.

The committee noticed that the meeting of the National Commission on Science and Technology had not been taking place since 2002. Senator Mushtaq stressed that the meetings must be conducted on a regular basis. He directed that a meeting of the executive committee must be called immediately.

The committee meeting was attended by senators Hidayatullah, Asad Junejo and Kamran Michael besides senior relevant officers from the science and technology ministry, HEC, PSQCA, PCSIR, Comsats.