January 10, 2008	Thursday	Zilhaj 30, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Jan 9: Fate of more than 100 employees affected by the closure of Tawana Pakistan Project (TPP) still hangs in a balance as the final decision about the project’s future remains uncertain.

The project’s closure will also affect 200,000 school girls in the poor and backward far-flung areas of the country.

The only excuse about the closure of the project from the social welfare ministry is that there were flaws in it. But they have no explanation for the defects and why the entire project was wound up instead of getting the lacunas removed.

Tawana Pakistan Project (TPP) was launched with pomp and show in 2002 and revised and expanded in 2007. But the project was wound up all of a sudden without giving any consideration to the people associated with it, including the school girls.

The summary of the project states a number of objectives for which it was launched. These include improvement of nutritional status of children (5-12 years old) in government primary schools and increasing enrolment and sustained attendance of girls in primary schools.

The programme was also aimed at creating awareness of the healthy lifestyle in the community particularly about education, public health and nutrition and to promote participatory process of capacity-building for human development and community empowerment through nexus of elected councillors and community.

Another goal attached with the project was reduction of gender gap in school enrolment; generating data/information on improvement of girls’ education, nutritional status and community involvement for healthy lifestyle and training in income generating skills for use of monitoring, evaluation and future national planning.

Employees who have been affected by the closure say the project had been a great success but was allegedly closed in order to cover up embezzlement and corruption at the top level.

“If there is any shortcoming in a project it should be removed. But there is no sense in winding up the whole project,” said an affected person who lost his job after the project was closed.

The affected workers also alleged that they had not been served any prior notice and were informed of their dismissal and closure of the project the same day.

“Unemployment is already so high in the country and the government instead of providing jobs to the unemployed has been depriving those who have one,” said another sacked employee.

They termed it great injustice. On the one hand, serving and retired army people are appointed on civilian posts with huge salary packages while on the other, highly educated poor people are snatched whatever small jobs they have, they observed.

The caretaker federal minister for social welfare and special education, Barrister Shahida Jamil, when asked about the future of the project, said no decision had yet been taken.

She said the project was being reviewed and would be relaunched after the flaws were removed.

About the future of the dismissed employees, she said they would be re-employed when the project was revived.