ISLAMABAD: Four members of the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat on Tuesday walked out of a meeting of the committee, alleging that its proceedings were ‘managed’.

The committee, chaired by Senator Talha Mahmood, was discussing the issue of a plot allotted to the Pakistan Foreign Office Women’s Association which was later given to Roots Millennium School through a joint venture for the establishment of a school on it.

Director General Foreign Office Shujaat Rathore told the meeting that the 10 kanal plot in Sector H-8 was allotted to the association by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in 1996.

“The cost was paid in 2006 but the escalation of over Rs10 million, which had to be paid as a fine, was waived. Officials of the Foreign Office are frequently posted out of the country due to which schooling of their children suffers a lot,” he said.

“If the school is constructed on the plot, it will become easy for the employees to admit their children there even if they return to Pakistan in the middle of their educational years.” However, Senator Kamil Ali Agha of the PML-Q said things were not as simple as they were being presented.

“The cost of the plot was not paid by the association and after 10 years not only the escalation was waived but also the actual cost was paid by the prime minister. The plot was allotted for a charity purpose but now a joint venture has been set up to use it for a commercial purpose. The school will charge heavy fees,” he said.

Member Estate of the CDA, Asad Kayani, said the agreement between the association and the private school was legal. Mayor of Islamabad Sheikh Ansar Aziz added that in 2014 the CDA Board had approved the establishment of a joint venture.

A representative of the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) also said there was no ambiguity in the agreement and the private school should be allowed to start the construction work.

However, independent Senator Mir Mohammad Yousuf Badini said a few months ago former CDA chairman had informed the committee that the joint venture was illegal as the association was not permitted to hand over the plot to any private party and use it for a commercial purpose.

Senator Shahi Syed of the ANP said if the CDA and CADD had no objection over the agreement, the committee should allow the construction of the school as the matter related to the future of children. Illegal work is going on all over the country but some members have objections over the school, he said.

But Mr Agha said the ANP senator should show decency otherwise he would be left with no option but boycott the proceedings.

PML-N Senator Kalsoom Perveen said she would also observe a boycott because for so many years schools had not been constructed for poor children. But all departments seem active to allow a private school to construct the building on the plot.

“It is strange that the standing committee made all-out efforts to hand over the land of Argentina Park to Polyclinic for the extension of the hospital but the CDA refused to allot the land without receiving its cost. But in this case, even the escalated price has been waived,” she said.

MQM Senator Khushbakht Shujaat and Senator Rahila Magsi of the PML-N supported the handing over of the plot to the private school.

A representative of Roots Millennium School said they had been offering scholarships to 50pc students to get education abroad.

Senator Agha and Kalsoom Perveen said it seemed everything was managed, adding there was no need to allow the representative of the school to speak as the issue related to the CDA and the women’s association.

They announced to boycott the session and left the committee room. Two other senators - Mr Badini and Haji Saifullah Khan Bangash - also went out of the room. Later, Senator Hidayatullah, however, brought the lawmakers back.

Senator Saifullah Bangash said a lot of money was involved in the joint venture. He said if the CDA directly sells the plot to him, he would pay Rs1 billion for it and would establish a school on it.

The chairman said the mayor should play his role in softening the terms of the agreement such as allowing children of Sweet Homes to get admission to the school and reserving a quota for the children of class-IV employees of Foreign Office. He directed the officials concerned to come back with a revised joint venture.

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2016