The committee, which met with Tariq Bashir Cheema in the chair, was informed that NIO supported and provided technical assistance to various organisations such as Gwadar Development Authority, Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Air Force, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Ports and Shipping and several more.
Director General NIO Dr Asif Inam informed the committee that Pakistan Navy depends entirely on NIO while making strategies. "NIO provides the Navy with critical information about where it can hide its submarines in the ocean from the enemy," said Dr Asif Inam.
Recently, the NIO was included in a Rs 650 million project to find solutions to stop sea intrusion along the coastal belt, that is feared to inundate developed areas in the next 30 to 40 years.
In 2015, the NIO assisted the government to claim 50, 000 square kilometres seabed, extending Pakistan's offshore limits from 200 nautical miles to 350 nautical miles farther into the ocean. The committee expressed annoyance over the meagre budget while saying that NIO's budget was insignificant given its import mandate, especially assistance to defence forces.
The committee was further informed that out of Rs 130 million allocated to the Institute annually, more than Rs 120 million went into meeting regular expenditures such as salaries and bills. "Most members own V8 cars that are more expensive than the Rs 5 million the NIO gets for research and development," said PTI MNA Ali Muhammad Khan. However, Minister for Science and Technology Rana Tanveer regretted that research and development is at the bottom of the list of the priorities of his government.
"It took a lot of efforts to convince the government to push budget for science and technology from Rs 1.7 billion to Rs 1.9 billion. It would not hurt the government if it allocates some Rs 3 billion at least to be put into research and development, which would make a huge difference and help economic growth in future," said Rana Tanveer. He told the meeting that the total budget for research and development (R&D) in Pakistan is 0.29 per cent of the gross domestic product. Some of the most progressive countries in the world inject four to five per cent funding of their budgets into R&D, he said.
According to Rana Tanveer, in all the 16 research departments under the Ministry of Science & Technology, R&D suffered due to lack of attention and funding. PTI MNA, Ali Muhammad Khan suggested that the defence forces which consume most of the budget should help NIO financially. The committee expressed displeasure over non-submission of report of the ministry regarding steps to stop the sale of substandard edible items. The parliamentary panel observed that the ministry keeping in view the sensitivity of the issue should include it in agenda items of the next meeting. Later, the committee decided to defer other agenda items till its next meeting.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017