ISLAMABAD: Senate’s Standing Committee on Functional and Less Development has directed the government to increase the budget of education, science, research and other related departments.
The meeting held here on Friday under the chairmanship of Senator Usman Khan Kakar, besides Federal Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanveer Hussain and committee members Nisar Muhammad, Jhanzaib Jamaldini, Mir Kabir Ahmed, Muhammad Shahi, Gayan Chand, Samina Abid, Khalida Parveen and government officials also attended the meeting.
Senator Kakar said that the moderanisation of research laboratories, research institution were must for the development and prosperity, it was the need of time to utilise minerals, fruits and vegetables of less developed areas. He urged the government to increase scholarship stipends for MPhil, PhD students of Balochistan and the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA).
The senate body also discussed and reviewed performance of the last three years of the Ministry of Science and Technology, FATA and Gilgit Baltistan. They informed the committee that during the current year Rs 187 million were distributed among 1,890 students of the less developed areas including 50 students from Balochistan got PhD scholarships.
Minister Rana Tanveer informed the committed that COMSATS campus would be established in the less developed areas as soon as possible. The government had already taken various steps to provide safe drinking water to the citizen, the complaints regarding the mixture of sewerage lines with safe drinking water lines were received from Lahore.
Senator Nisar said that the number of less developed districts in Pakistan were more as compared to the developed areas. He said that the government should install machines for modification of stones in the Malakand Division and Mardan.
