Experts fear stop of food confidence plan will strike investigate sector
PHOTO: REUTERS
FAISALABAD: Termination of $30 million food confidence plan by USAID has drawn critique from experts and stakeholders and they fear that a sudden preference will impact a ongoing investigate and academician sell programmes in a country.
They claimed a conditions will badly strike a aloft preparation zone and it will impact ties between a United States and Pakistan. Earlier on Jul 26, a US supervision consummated appropriation to a $30 million plan of University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF). The US supervision released a presentation in this courtesy after completing tighten to 50% work on a US-Pakistan Centre for Advanced Studies in Agriculture and Food Security project.
Ban sought on USAID activities in Pakistan
The stop minute was released days after Pentagon announced to secrete $50 million reimbursements underneath a Coalition Support Fund to Pakistan on a stratagem that it is incompetent to determine either Islamabad conducted adequate counter-terrorism operations opposite a Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network.
“No doubt USAID has been assisting Pakistan by appropriation several schemes for a final 3 decades though we need to ask some plain reasons from a group officials behind closure of a food confidence project,” former National Assembly orator Syed Fakhar Imam pronounced while vocalization to The Express Tribune.
Fakhar Imam voiced dismay over a preference and pronounced such situations lead nations to self-reliance. He added, “There is a need to serve strengthen US-Pakistan ties irrespective of a closure of a project.” He remarked, “Human partnership is some-more critical and durable than anything else.”
The former orator lamented, “Our forestation cover is a lowest in a universe and cultivation zone in a nation was not given priority by any government.”
While commenting on a matter, UAF Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan told The Express Tribune, “Higher Education Commission Chief Dr Mukhtar Ahmad has positive a varsity administration that a pronounced plan will be undertaken during all costs.” He said, “However, compartment execution of a compulsory arrangements, a project’s destiny will hang in a balance.”
The VC reliable that rural expansion could exterminate misery and shutting down such a smashing plan will impact a work of tip category researchers in Pakistan and a US.
He said, “Abrupt stop of a plan will hindrance ongoing practical investigate schemes as 18 of them are being implemented in partnership with University of California Davis and Washington State University professors.”
Iqrar Ahmed forked out that discontinuation of a mega plan will impact academician sell revisit programme as over 20 had already practical for visa and 65 some-more were scheduled to revisit US in a final dual years of a project.
He said, “With a appropriation of USAID, dual new grade programmes; MSc in Climate Change and MSc in Seed Science Technology have been launched, since MSc in Nutrition Dietetics will be launched in a subsequent educational session.”
Besides, he elaborated that 16 new MS/PhD turn courses were grown to embody latest growth and investigate ideas to remodel a veterinary medicine curriculum. When contacted, HEC Adviser Dr Mehmood Butt told The Express Tribune, “The food confidence plan has not been consummated due to any opening weakness.”
USAID-funded $15m plan terminated
He positive a HEC will make arrangements for a sustainability. “The HEC, underneath 2025 vision, will settle 20 investigate formed universities opposite a nation and 30 centers of modernized studies in all a subjects will also be dynamic in a entrance years,” a confidant remarked.
He said, “The supervision is dynamic to boost a bill for aloft preparation to a turn where we can proudly explain that we are spending outrageous volume on it.”
“In sequence to boost a peculiarity of PhD scholars, a HEC underneath Pak-US Knowledge Corridor is promulgation 10,000 students to eminent universities in a United States for PhD studies,” a HEC central confirmed. He hoped a initial collection of 1,500 students will be dispatched in a midst of 2018.
Published in The Express Tribune, Aug 7th, 2017.
Article source: https://tribune.com.pk/story/1475533/experts-fear-termination-food-security-project-will-hit-research-sector/