ISLAMABAD: The cabinet committee of the federal government has decided to abolish the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD).

CADD was created following the passage of the 18th Amendment to look after the affairs of leftover education and healthcare institutions, which had been previously under the federal education and health ministries.

However, in 2011, the government of the day established the Ministry of Education and Professional Training as well as the Ministry of National Health Services. Since then, both ministries had been trying to get back administrative control of their related departments.

Also read: Frequent change of guard in CADD affects working of education, health sectors

The education and healthcare institutions that were being looked after by CADD will now be placed under the administrative control of the two ministries.

The decision to this effect was taken in a meeting, chaired by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and attended by Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Education Minister Baleeghur Rehman, Information Technology Minister Anusha Rehman and their concerned federal secretaries, among others.

“The committee has recommended that CADD be abolished altogether and that all education and healthcare institutions be given to the education and health ministries, respectively,” Baleeghur Rehman told Dawn.

CADD Secretary Khalid Hanif told Dawn: “Though the committee recommended the abolishment of CADD, however, the final decision will be taken by the PM.”

Speaking to Dawn, a senior education ministry official said that the Cabinet Committee on Reconstruction (CCoR) decided on Friday that administrative control of 18 educational institutions – most of them were being run by CADD and some by the Cabinet Division, Foreign Office and the Inter-Provincial Coordination ministry — should be given to the federal education ministry.

Similarly, he said, the committee decided that administrative control of all healthcare-related departments will be given to the Ministry of National Health Services.

“Ishaq Dar and Ahsan Iqbal are two of the senior-most ministers, so there is very little chance that the PM will reject their recommendations. You can say that CADD has been abolished,” he concluded.

The official said that in the light of committee’s decision, administrative control over the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE), Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Authority (PEIRA), Federal College of Education, Federal Government Polytechnic Institute, National Institute of Science and Technical Education, National Training Bureau, National Book Foundation, Boys and Girls Scouts, Urdu Science Board, Urdu Dictionary Board, Department of Libraries, Foreign Chairs (a department responsible for filling honorary chairs in foreign universities), international scholarships and the National College of Arts (NCA) will be given to the education ministry.

Meanwhile, an official of the health ministry said that according to the committee’s recommendations, seven institutions, including the National Institute of Health, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), Federal Government Services Hospital, National Institute of Rehabilitative Medicine (NIRM) and Human Organs Transplant Authority (HOTA) will be handed over to the Ministry of National Health Services.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2015

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