Islamabad: Engineer Zahoor Sarwar (PhD), a member of the Governing Body of the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC), revealed in an emergency press conference that billions of rupees are being wasted in the Pakistan Engineering Council. It is important to note that PEC is a regulatory body and the sole governing entity of the engineering sector in Pakistan, responsible for resolving all engineering issues in the country and presenting government policies as a think tank.
Engineer Zahoor Sarwar stated that in the current electricity crisis, PEC should have a significant role, but instead of finding solutions, the billions of rupees collected annually in fees are being squandered on luxurious accommodations, food, and TADA (traveling and daily allowances) in five-star hotels.
He further revealed that before obtaining any contract in any engineering institution in the country, every company must deposit an annual fee of five lakh rupees with PEC, and more than 100,000 companies are registered with PEC. Engineer Zahoor Sarwar presented PEC’s financial report, which is a public document, to the media as evidence, showing that more than 10 billion rupees are available annually, which are kept in banks to earn interest. He also revealed that PEC-affiliated individuals keep their personal money with these funds to earn maximum interest from the banks.
PEC has 65 governing body members, and each member receives more than 50 million rupees in TADA. They also enjoy two vehicles each and hundreds of kilometers of free fuel.
Engineer Zahoor Sarwar criticized the extravagant spending, stating that in a country where people run after bags of flour and end up under trucks, these indulgent individuals spend one crore rupees monthly just on lunch. Over 150,000 young engineers are unemployed, and the new generation has started to despise engineering. The number of engineering students has plummeted to the lowest in history, and major universities are shutting down their engineering departments. The PEC governing body is busy with foreign tours and spending on TADA.
Engineer Zahoor Sarwar appealed to the senior government officials to ensure that the financial audit of PEC is conducted by the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP), as currently, the council’s audit is conducted by their friends, and the public’s money should be audited by AGP. He also recommended that instead of wasting billions in five-star hotels, the government should mandate stays in government guest houses, and young engineers, especially female engineers, should be given 6+6 reserved seats as per the law so that they can sit in the governing body and work on solving their issues.
He emphasized that those who have been entrenched in PEC for 30 years should be banned to allow new individuals to join and dedicate PEC to solving Pakistan’s engineering problems, particularly the production and distribution of electricity. He concluded by stating that Pakistan has no option but to advance in the field of engineering and technology to embark on the path of development, and for this, a service structure and technical allowance for engineers and technologists are essential.
