The government has dropped 11 new projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) that had been proposed by the previous government, because of financial constraints.
The Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the upcoming fiscal year with a total outlay of Rs. 800 billion was approved by the National Economic Council (NEC) on Wednesday.
The MoST had sought funds for 33 ongoing and 12 new projects in the budget but it only got one new project in the approved PSDP while 11 new projects have been dropped due to a shortage of funds.
According to the PSDP documents available with ProPakistani, new schemes for the Pakistan Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), the Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), the Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF), COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), and the Task Force have been dropped.
According to the documents, the ministry had sought Rs. 2,945.386 million for 12 new development schemes in the PSDP 2022-23, but only Rs. 190 million has been allocated for one scheme, which is the establishment of the NUST Chip Design Center.
The documents also revealed that two new projects of the PCSIR have been dropped, including the ‘Establishment of Medical Cannabis Greenhouse for Biotechnology-derived Bio-projects, National Hemp and Cannabis Analytical Laboratory, and National Industrial Hemp and Medical Cannabis Authority’, and ‘Research Development and Technology Transfer of Selected Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients for Import Substitution’.
A new scheme of the PCRWR, namely ‘Water Management through Different Declamation Approaches in low-lying Areas of Sindh’ has also been dropped due to a lack of funds.
Similarly, two new schemes of the PSF, including the ‘Popularization of Science through Mass Media’ and the ‘Extension of Display Exhibits, Collection Repositories Improvement, and Research Facilities Enhancement at Pakistan Museum of Natural History’ have also been dropped.
The Planning Commission has declined to allocate funds for two schemes for CUI, including the ‘Infrastructure Development of COMSATS University Islamabad, Permanent Campus Abbottabad’ and the ‘Establishment of COMSATS University Campus at Kohat’ for the next financial year.
The MoST has failed to persuade the Planning Commission to provide funds for new projects of the MoST Task Force. Four new schemes of the latter have been dropped, including the ‘Establishment of a Micro and Nano- Electronics Design Center’, the ‘Establishment of National Stem Cell Banking Facility of Regeneration Therapy’, ‘Grants for Strengthening of Research in Pakistan’ and the ‘Centre of Hygiene and Medical Textile, UET Lahore”.
MoST officials revealed that after multiple meetings held between the MoST and the Ministry of Planning and Development on the matter of the allocation of funds for new schemes of the MoST, the Planning Commission declined to allocate funds for the majority of the new projects by saying that funds cannot be allocated due to the weak economic situation of the country.
