ISLAMABAD Chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC), Dr Attaur Rehman, has decided to step down and send his resignation to the prime minister secretariat on Thursday, an HEC official told Dawn.

Dr Atta has been one of the close aides of former President Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf and remained in his good books until he resigned on 19 August this year. He was made federal minister for Science & Technology in the first cabinet of General Musharraf after the military coup of 1999.  Later on in 2002, when the government decided to change University Grants Commission (UGC) into HEC, Dr Atta opted to become its chairman. He completed his first four-year tenure as Chairman HEC in 2006 but was asked to continue for another stint.

When asked, the official said, Dr Atta was very much willing to continue in the present set up atleast for another two years until his second tenure expires, but has decided to vacate the post for unknown reasons. However, according to one of the HEC`s members who requested not to be named, it is quite obvious that he has been asked to leave the post so that some body else could be accommodated.

Over the last few years, HEC has become one of the well-funded government departments. In 2002, the budgetary allocations for the higher education sector were only Rs400 to Rs500 million, however, in the current financial year, its budget has crossed Rs20 billion. Therefore, the member said, since the new government has taken over the power from General Musharraf, many were in the run to grab this post. Dr Javaid R Laghari, a PPP Senator and President of the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST) is being tipped as the new Chairman of the HEC.