ISLAMABAD: The government on Wednesday informed the Senate Standing Committee on Science and Technology that the entire recruitment process conducted by Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) had been annulled, and assured that a thorough inquiry would be initiated.

“The report of this investigation would be shared with the committee within one month,” said Additional Secretary (Incharge), Ministry of Science and Technology Mohammad Abdullah Khan Sumbal.

He was briefing the Senate standing committee on Science and Technology in response to a public petition submitted by a candidate Waleed bin Mushtaq, apprising discrepancies in the recruitment process conducted by Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA).

Senate Standing Committee on Science and Technology met here at Parliament House with Senator Sardar Muhammad Shafiq Tareen in the chair.

Waleed Mushtaq informed the committee that the recruitment process was executed in a hurried manner which brings the intentions of the department into question.

He further argued that candidates were not provided with the date and time of the written test. Some who qualified for interviews received call letters after the interviews had already taken place.

Additionally, Waleed Mushtaq alleged that the PSQCA administration treated him disrespectfully when he sought clarification regarding the entire recruitment process. The committee chairman expressed concern over the situation, acknowledging that he had received numerous complaints of a similar nature.

The Senate committee passed the Bill titled “The Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2023”. Senator Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur, mover of the bill, stated that the bill aimed to strengthen the Parliamentary oversight over the AGP’s reports on Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority. It made obligatory on the AGP to present the financial audit of PSQCA in both Houses of the Parliament.

The Senate body also deliberated on the bill titled “The Pakistan Halal Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2023” introduced by Senator Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur.

Officials stated that the amendments proposed in the bill, had already been incorporated in the Rules and Regulations of Pakistan Halal Authority and the international standards was also being followed in certification of the products. Senator Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur requested that the rules and regulations of Pakistan Hilal Authority should be shared before the committee. The committee deferred the deliberations on the bill till the next meeting.

Furthermore, the committee was briefed on the current status of recommendation, made by standing committee in the previous meeting.

PSQCA informed the body that a contempt application had been filed against the cement industry, for failing to comply with the Supreme Court order to pay the marking fee for using the PSQCA logo. The ministry was working tirelessly for timely disposal of the cases.

Discussing the pay scale matter of Comsats employees, officials informed the meeting that pay scale of the employees had been revised as per the committee recommendation.

Moreover, the committee was briefed on the alleged embezzlement of Rs1,148 million as reported in social media.

In addition, the matter of regularization of contract employees was also discussed. Chairman Pakistan Council for Science and Industrial Research (PSCIR) apprised that contract employees would be regularized as soon as the Finance Division approved the required financing. The chairman committee directed that the general practice should be followed in regularization of the contract employees.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2023