ISLAMABAD, Aug 6: About 400,000 children enrolled in feeder schools, opened by National Commission for Human Development (NCHD), may find their institutions closed down in case the commission is wound up, it has been learnt.

Besides, 550,000 people dependent on the commission would also suffer in the wake of its closure. As many as 80,000 employees of the NCHD have already been shown the door.

The commission has been facing financial hardships since November of last year after the federal government provided it Rs1 billion against the allocated Rs2.3 billion for the fiscal year 2007-08, a source in the commission told Dawn here on Wednesday.

The remaining amount of Rs1.3 billion was due in January 2008 to cater to the needs of the remaining part of the fiscal year ending in June. But this amount was also not provided and instead the NCHD was asked to reduce its budget requirement. However, against a reduced requirement of Rs874 million, a grant of Rs472 million was provided to clear off the liabilities until June 2008, the source said, adding that the NCHD, after clearing off all its liabilities, would be left with only Rs4 million by the end of August. Under such circumstances the NCHD operations would come to a complete halt.

To review the critical state of NCHD funds, especially in the wake of no firm commitment by the government, a meeting of the members of the National Commission for Human Development was held on July 28 which was presided over by its chairman, Dr Nasim Ashraf.

After detailed deliberations, it was unanimously decided that while the government would be approached yet again for provision of required funds, the NCHD must remain legally and financially solvent to avoid future complications in case the funds are not made available.

The commission, therefore, issued termination of service notices to all employees with effect from August 1, she said.

The meeting also considered the issue of security and preservation of NCHD assets the cost of which comes to Rs543 million in 122 locations throughout the country.

It was observed with concern that if the funds were not provided to the NCHD after September 1, the organisation will not be in a position to retain the rental accommodation and services of the necessary staff to take care of its assets, she added.

The decision of closing down the programme all of a sudden and freezing the allocations had caused resentment among the employees, she noted.

Established in 2002 as a fast track initiative to improve social sector outcomes at the grass-root level in 16 districts, the NCHD was fighting fit in the domains of social sectors in 122 districts across the country, she said.

It was after assessing the NCHD performance in 16 districts in 2005 that the president and prime minister directed the commission to extend its operations to all 122 districts for which a grant of Rs14 billion for a period of five years was approved. After the approval the commission established its provincial offices and 98 human development support units in various districts and employed about 88,000 personnel throughout the country including Fata, Fana and Azad Kashmir, she added.

The source further said since its establishment, the NCHD, under its Universal Primary Education Programme, opened 21,639 community-based feeder schools and enrolled 8.235 million children in the age group of five and seven in 117 districts.