ISLAMABAD, July 21: The Pakistan Council of Science and Technology (PCST) said on Sunday Federal Minister for Science and Technology Dr Ataur Rehman had not accepted the research productivity allowance admissible to him.

“Prof Atta has returned the amount of Rs1.2 million approved for him to the PCST with the suggestion that it be spent on creating an endowment fund for needy students of the Karachi University,” a PCST spokesperson said on Sunday.

She was reacting to a statement (published on Sunday) of some council officials who had challenged the criteria set for giving the allowance and a payment of Rs 2million to the minister.

She said “the grant of research productivity allowance is in line with the decision of second meeting of the National Commission for Science and Technology presided over by president Gen Pervez Musharraf. The meeting decided to increase incentives for scientists to encourage high quality research in the country.

“Subsequently, a summary was submitted to M/O Finance in the case, which was approved with the condition that quality research published in international journals should be made criteria for the grant of research productivity allowance. The government used the criteria set by the Institute of Scientific Information, Philadelphia (USA), for rating the scientists that is an internationally accepted yardstick. It may also be noted that half of the amount given to scientists is personal honorarium while the other half is to be used for promoting research.

“The PCST had widely advertised the decision in the national press asking scientists to provide details of their qualifications required for the grant of allowance. About 300 scientists qualified under the criteria set by the government. A committee of eminent scientists reviewed the claims filed by the scientists and made the final decision in each case. Prof Atta was among the few scientists rated in “A” category.”

The spokesperson contested researchers’ claim that some eligible scientists could not be paid the allowance due to paucity of funds. On the contrary, the PCST surrendered some amount at the end of the financial year after making payments to all those for whom the allowance was approved.