Govt. to establish Pakistan Technology Council for B.Tech graduates

More than 50,000 B.Tech graduates, after years-long struggle, received a green signal from National Assembly Standing Committee on Science and Technology to establish a separate Pakistan Technology Council (PTC) for registering them and safeguarding their interests and rights. B.Tech graduates have been deprived of access to higher studies, job opportunities in public departments and promotions due to undefined status of their degree and it was their longstanding demand to establish PTC.

Talking to APP, Chairman Pakistan Council of Technologists, Sheikh Javed said that after strenuous efforts of B.Tech community, Chairman NA Standing Committee on Science and Technology Dr. Abdul Qadir Khanzada in a meeting with Pakistan Council of Technologists (PCT) announced to establish the PTC.

The council has handed over the draft of PTC Act to Minister of Science and Technology, Changez Khan Jamali so that the work on establishing a separate council can be started as early as possible.

Now, Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) as well as Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) have also recommended to establish PTC, he said. B.Tech graduates have been suffering from the last 35 years due to undefined status of their degree.

Earlier, Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) refused to recognize and register B.Tech graduates, restraining their access to employment opportunities as well as due promotions in the public departments.
Only private organizations and few government departments were acknowledging the status of B.Tech graduates, giving them jobs, Javed said.

Now the B.Tech graduates hope that their problems will be resolved during the tenure of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) led government. Over 10,000 B.Tech graduates complete their degrees from different institutes annually and start their struggle in the market for jobs and most of them have to go abroad for jobs, he observed.

Pakistan Technology Council, if established, will help register technology graduates, control technology institution and eliminate discrimination regarding higher education, job opportunities and scale promotion.
About the history of their struggle, Sheikh Javed informed that a draft bill for the establishment of PTC was dispatched in February 2010 which was forwarded to the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) on March 3, 2010 for furnishing their comments but is still pending.
Earlier, PEC refused to control, register and promote the technologists and in its Act passed on December 29 from the Parliament excluded the terms ‘technicians or technologists’ which meant that the council was not ready to accept their status.

B.Tech programme was formally launched in 1973 and the then Ministry of Education directed to give status of B.Tech (Hons) degree at par with B.Sc Engineering/B.E degree, according to the letter No. 15-29/73-Tech.
According to the letter no PEC/4-P/QEC, PEC stated that B.Tech degree will be considered equivalent to B.Sc/BE and the same decision was taken in 9th inter-provincial ministers conference at Quetta in 1986, 39th HEC meeting on 12-2-98, FPSC in its letter no F4-89/2002-R but now PEC is not ready to accept their status.

The B.Tech holders study the same courses like engineers and are equally competent but they have to struggle and file cases individually to recognize their degree status, Sheikh Javed said.

After PEC refusal to register B.tech graduates, different public departments denied to recognize their degree, not giving them jobs. While those who were appointed already remained deprived of promotion above Grade 16, he said.

Sheikh Javed said Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) is also not appointing the B.Tech degree holders directly.

The technologists holding B.Tech qualification have filed several cases in courts and got 17 decisions in their favour, declaring their degree equivalent to B.Sc/BE but no decision could not be implemented so far.
The full bench of Supreme Court in Suo Motu Review Petition No. 52 of 1993 given its verdict on June 05, 1995 in favour of B.Tech (Hons) (PLD 1995 SC 701), thrashing out the role of PEC.

But, PEC in 2004-05 managed the amendments by adding new clauses and definition of professional engineering work and section 5A of Section 27 only to null and void the decision of full bench of Supreme Court thus to interfere in the service matters and blocking promotion channels of employees possessing B.Tech (Hons) degrees.

HEC through a letter accepted the status of B.Tech (Hons) equivalent to BS.c/BE and started issuing equivalence certificate to the graduates but the public departments refused to employ them, he said.

via: Associated Press Of Pakistan [http://app.com.pk/]