Govt okays funds for Danish Trust

ISLAMABAD:

The government on Monday formally approved the transfer of a major chunk of money laundering proceeds worth £190 million, recovered by the United Kingdom five years ago, to the Danish Education Trust for building a national university of modern technologies.

Headed by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet approved the allocation of funds equal to £190 million along with accumulated interest available with the Supreme Court's public account for the Danish Education Trust Company and the Sindh government.

As a result, the money will be taken out of the Federal Consolidated Fund and will be placed with the Danish Education Trust, set up as a company under Section 42 of the Companies Act 2017.

Out of the total, a major chunk of over Rs54.5 billion will go to the Danish Education Trust and the remaining has been given to the government of Sindh, according to a briefing given to the ECC by the finance ministry.

"The ECC considered and approved a proposal from the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training for a technical supplementary grant of Rs54.5 billion to the Danish Education Trust to provide high-quality higher education to underprivileged students, ensuring academic excellence nationwide," said the finance ministry.

The Danish School initiative was launched by Shehbaz Sharif in Punjab in 2010 to provide modern education and recreational facilities to children from underprivileged families.

The decision to transfer crime proceeds for the noble cause of education was taken the day PM Sharif in a surprising decision changed his key man, Education Secretary Mohyuddin Wani. Wani was spearheading education sector reforms but was removed due to political pressure exerted by an ally of the government, according to sources.

In 2019, the UK's NCA reached a settlement worth £190 million. The money had not gone back to the federal government at that time. Instead, it was transferred directly into the account of Supreme Court.

Former PM Imran Khan has been convicted by an accountability court with 14 years in prison and his wife Bushra Bibi for seven years in the same money laundering case, known as Al-Qadir Trust. The charges against Khan were that he received land from a real estate developer in return for putting the recovered money in his account maintained with the Supreme Court for settlement of the developer's dues.

The Danish education project aims to provide quality education to underprivileged and deserving students across Pakistan, particularly in remote and less-developed areas. The initiative is designed to offer modern educational facilities, a well-trained faculty and a structured curriculum to ensure academic excellence and personal development, the ECC was told.

The Danish project will focus on state-of-the-art infrastructure, comprehensive student support services and a conducive environment for learning to nurture future leaders.

Modelled after the Danish School, the Danish university will feature state-of-the-art infrastructure, cutting-edge research facilities and top-tier faculty. The government is planning to construct the university in Sector H-16, Islamabad.

The Ministry of Finance had recommended the issuance of a supplementary grant in favour of the Ministry of Federal Education & Professional Training to transfer funds from the public account of the federation to the Federal Consolidated Fund and to the Danish Trust Company.

In a surprising move, the government on Monday transferred Federal Education Secretary Mohyuddin Ahmad Wani and posted him as the inter-provincial coordination secretary. Wani was successfully leading over a dozen education-related initiatives of PM Sharif and changed the landscape, culture and conventional teaching methods in Islamabad Capital Territory.

He spearheaded initiatives like the establishment of Danish Schools in Islamabad, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Balochistan. Wani was also working on the establishment of 100 early childhood education centres to provide quality early education and the establishment of 16 high-impact labs in degree colleges to equip youth with skills in emerging technologies.

He was also looking after initiatives like the establishment of 50 Digital Hubs in rural schools to enhance digital learning to bridge digital divide, setting up the Google Centre of Excellence to empower educators and students through digital literacy tools and the Prime Minister's Pink Bus Initiative to provide safe, free transport for women and girls in rural areas of Islamabad.

He was working on the Smart Classrooms & e-Taleem Portal for Blended Learning to modernise classrooms and integrate digital learning, setting up Robotic Labs in schools to foster creativity and technological skills through robotics and the up-gradation of school facilities and solarisation of schools.

His transfer may slow down the implementation of these initiatives, which encouraged parents to start getting their children enrolled in public sector schools by transferring them from private institutes.

Other ECC decisions

The ECC approved Rs9 billion in supplementary budget for parliamentarians' schemes in Sindh and Punjab. It also approved Rs23.4 billion in supplementary budget for the Federal Directorate of Immunisation. The money has been given to support the immunisation of over eight million children below two years of age from 12 vaccine-preventable diseases. This initiative is part of Pakistan's ongoing commitment to public health.

Another Rs1.2 billion worth of supplementary budget was approved for timely completion of the "Transformation to National Forensic Agency" project by June 30, 2025.

A Rs3.6 billion supplementary budget was approved for the Jinnah Medical Complex and Research Centre Company.