ISLAMABAD, Dec 15: The federal education ministry has decided in principle to establish a "Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)" cell to ensure strict financial discipline and smooth functioning in the ministry, official sources told Dawn.

The 73-member cell including nine officers will be headed by a retired brigadier and will be a blend of civilian and ex- military personnel, they said. The work force for the cell will be recruited on two-year contract basis and will be given special training to uplift the ministry's overall performance which so far has literally failed to deliver, they said.

Federal Education Minister and former ISI director-general Javed Ashraf Qazi has already directed the officials concerned of the ministry to finalize recruitment rules for this new initiative, the sources said.

In this connection, they added, advertisements would be placed in press for desirous people to serve the cell. Both civilians and the retired armed forces personnel would be eligible.

A well-placed source in the ministry confided to Dawn that the minister wanted to have a firm check on utilization of funds by the ministry which had been hugely misused in the past.

The ministry over the last few years had been disbursing funds both from the state kitty and the international donors to countless non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in the education sector. But unfortunately, the source said, these funds were misused with no impact on the ground, therefore, the minister wanted to make them (NGOs) accountable.

Moreover, he said, the ministry was in the process of NGOs scrutiny and those which had failed to deliver would be black- listed. Subsequently, the ministry would also recommend cancellation of their registration. Additionally, the cell will also monitor and expedite the pace of ministry's projects and development plans and ensure financial discipline in their completion.

About the E&M cell, the education minister had often said that 'The cell would not be a spy agency to monitor the movement of ministry officials but to keep a check on its working, as yet there is no mechanism in place for this purposes in the education ministry'.

The jurisdiction of the cell would be limited only to the establishments, attached departments and the line agencies of the federal ministry of education throughout the country. The cell would also address the public grievances against the officials of the ministry, the source said.