½islamabad: Senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Parliamentary Party Leader in the Senate, and Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Senator Irfan Siddiqui, has formally submitted a written proposal to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, urging an increase in the budget for higher education. He argued that the amount allocated in the budget proposals is insufficient for the promotion of the Higher Education Commission (HEC).
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½In his proposal, officially submitted to the committee through the Senate Secretariat, Senator Irfan Siddiqui pointed out that for several years now, both the recurring grant and development budget for the HEC have been consistently declining. At the same time, the number of public universities, institutes, and research centers has been increasing, along with the student population enrolled in these institutions.
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½Senator Irfan Siddiqui noted that the budget for the current year allocates nearly the same amount for HEC's recurring expenses as it has for the past six years. For the upcoming fiscal year, HEC had requested Rs. 125 billion for its recurring expenditures, but only Rs. 66 billion has been allocated-roughly the same as was given in the 2017-18 budget.
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½Senator Irfan Siddiqui informed the finance committee that in the 2023-24 budget, around Rs. 70 billion had been allocated for HEC's development budget, while Rs. 66 billion was allocated the previous year. Shockingly, for the upcoming fiscal year, this amount has been reduced to Rs. 39 billion.
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½He emphasized that neighboring countries, including India, Maldives, and Bhutan, are spending many times more on higher education compared to Pakistan. Senator Irfan Siddiqui called on the committee to amend the budget proposals and allocate at least Rs. 80 billion for HEC's recurring expenditures. He also demanded that the development budget be increased from Rs. 39 billion to Rs. 80 billion, so that Pakistan can nurture a generation of youth capable of competing at the global level through high-quality academic and research activities.
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½The Senate Standing Committee on Finance, chaired by Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, is holding continuous meetings to review budget proposals submitted by senators. It is expected to present its final recommendations to the House by Thursday, June 19. Once approved by the Senate, these recommendations will be forwarded to the National Assembly.