ISLAMABAD:Meeting of the Senate Functional Committee on Government Assurances was held here on Wednesday at Old PIPS Hall, Parliament Lodges with Senator Kamil Ali Agha in chair.
The meeting commenced with deliberation on the employment quota provided in Article 27 of the Constitution of 1973. Dr Ismat Tahira, Special Secretary Establishment Division, apprised the committee that Employment Quota for Service of Pakistan was provided for 40 years and which was expired in 2013, said a press release.
She said that Establishment Division is of opinion that the quota should further be extended for the next 20 years and it can be done only through the amendment to the Constitution of 1973.
The chair recommended the employment quota shall be revived for the next 30 years by amending the constitution at the earliest and space shall be left for further enactment relating to the sub-quota of minorities.
The committee also appreciated the Establishment Division for announcing the Special CSS examination to fill up the vacant posts of minorities which remained vacant over the years under the quota system.
Moreover, the assurances given by the then Minister In-charge of Capital Administration and Development Division for the expansion of Pakistan Institute Of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Poly Clinic, and National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (NIRM) were also discussed in detail.
Nasir Uddin Mashood Ahmad, Special Secretary for NHSRC, briefed the committee that five acre of land in G-11 Sector was allotted and groundbreaking work has been initiated for the expansion of Polyclinic Hospital and the project will be completed in three years.
He further added that 10 different projects relating to the expansion of PIMS have been completed which include mainly the construction of nursing hostel, upgradation of x-ray machines in radiology department, upgradation of nephrology department, installation of chillers for mortuary department, upgradation of existing facilities and procurement of equipment for ophthalmology department, and construction work on two projects named as the emergency block, and mother and child block is still in process and it will be completed in 2024 and 2023 respectively.
The chair recommended accelerating the ongoing expansion work and also rescheduling the liver transplantation programme at PIMS. However, as far as the expansion of NIRM is concerned, Special Secretary NHSRC apprised the committee that six kanal of land was allotted for the expansion of NIRM but construction could not be initiated because the task force on Health under the previous government has halted the process.
Senator Kamil Ali Agha recommended the expansion of NIRM shall be re-initiated on a priority basis as per the original plan.
Furthermore, the functional committee also discussed the assurances regarding the procurement of an MRI machine in the Federal Government Poly Clinic, Islamabad. Nasir ud Din Mashood Ahmad said to the committee that MRI machine will be installed in the next three to four months and the major delay in the installation of the MRI machine occurred due to remodeling of the site.
The meeting was attended by Senator Shammim Afridi, Senator Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Senator Gurdeep Singh, Senator Prof Sajid Mir, Special Secretary Establishment Division Dr Ismat Tahira, Special Secretary NHSRC Nasir Uddin Mashood Ahmad, Asif Saeed, Additional Secretary Parliamentary Affairs and other concerned officers.