The 9th meeting of the Steering Committee on Socio-Political Domain, constituted by the Apex Committee, was held under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal. The meeting was attended by Provincial Finance Ministers, Chairmen of Planning and Development Boards, Additional Chief Secretaries, Secretary Planning, Secretary Finance, Vice Chairman PIDE, and senior officials from relevant departments.
The committee was established to eliminate the root causes of extremism and subversion through improved governance and equitable development projects. A major decision taken during the meeting was to enact uniform legislation for the registration of educational institutions. Ahsan Iqbal stated that all types of educational institutions, whether private schools, madaaris, or government educational institutions, should have a universal law so that no one feels discriminated against.
He emphasized that madaaris are also educational institutions and keeping them in a separate category creates doubts and suspicions. They need to be brought into the national mainstream through an inclusive approach. On the directions of the federal minister, the Directorate of Religious Education will develop a common framework for registration of madaaris, schools, and technical institutions at the federal and provincial levels. The federal minister also directed that a meeting of representatives of Wafaq ul Madaris be convened to include madaaris in the development agenda of Uraan Pakistan.
The meeting was informed that on the directives of the committee, the Higher Education Commission has issued instructions to all Vice Chancellors to discontinue hostel allotment on provincial or linguistic basis. To promote national cohesion among students, hostel accommodations are now being allotted by ensuring a mix of students from all provinces.
The committee directed the provinces to work on a comprehensive strategy for accelerated development of the 20 most backward districts of the country. Ahsan Iqbal said that the federation is providing development funds to the provinces, and now it is the responsibility of the provinces to give top priority to the backward districts so that they can be transformed into strong and stable districts. He stressed the need to work expeditiously to create opportunities in education, health, infrastructure, and employment in these backward districts. All provinces will submit a five-year plan within two months to accelerate the development process in the most backward districts.
The committee directed provincial governments to strengthen public liaison at the district administration and local leadership level so that public issues can be resolved through participatory governance.
Furthermore, the committee directed the Ministry of Education and HEC to take immediate steps to include Iqbal's teachings in the curriculum and establish Iqbal Chairs in universities.
