The government has decided to devolve the National Education Commission (NEC) and the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) to the provinces under the 18th Amendment, putting the fate of around 30,000 employees in jeopardy.
A source in the Implementation Commission told Pakistan Today that the decision had been made and would soon be announced. However, the employees of the NEC and NCHD have decided to stage protests if they were not accommodated in other government departments.
PPP leader and head of both departments, Nafeesa Shah, said the departments would become dysfunctional due to the non-issuance of funds and the fate of 30,000 families would be compromised. “No funds have been allocated in the annual budget 2011/2012 for the NEC and NCHD. This suggests that both departments are supposed to be devolved to the provinces under the 18th Amendment,” she said.
The closure of both departments will also leave a question mark over the fate of around one million children, who are enrolled in institutions run by both departments.
The NCHD had targeted to enrol over 10 million people in 134 districts under the Universal Primary Education Programme. The commission was a brainchild of Dr Nasim Ashraf, a close friend of former dictator General Pervez Musharraf.
The NCHD was formed to improve social indicators to meet the Millennium Development Goals, but it also utilised funds for getting 451 latest model vehicles, 1,217 motorcycles, 7,280 pieces of office equipment, including generators, air conditioners, fans and IT servers, 65 laptops, 1,861 computers, 17,696 pieces of furniture, 655 printers and 56 bicycles.
Despite repeated attempts, neither the chairman of the Implementation Commission, Raza Rabbani, nor Establishment Secretary Abdur Rauf Chaudhry could be contacted for comments.