ISLAMABAD: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) will be establishing a Social Sciences Council of Pakistan.

This was announced by HEC Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed on Thursday at a seminar titled ‘Second National Symposium on Thematic Research in Social Sciences’ at the HEC secretariat.

The HEC chairman said that professionals who will promote research in the social sciences will comprise the council, which will be an independent body.

“We will release separate funding for the council,” he said.

Mr Ahmed said that though social sciences were important, they were not that prominent in our education system.

Adviser to the Government of Balochistan Dr Kaisar Bengali stressed on the need for research on social problems in the country.

He said research is important for addressing problems like poverty, injustice and unemployment. The structural imbalance of the economy creates panic and needs to be addressed, he said.

“Pakistan is not short on resources, they just need to be distributed more equally and that is important for national development,” he added. He urged students to research on social issues that bother them.

Vice Chancellor of the Allama Iqbal Open University Dr Shahid Siddiqui said that the improvements in the economy and the development of politics are inter-connected and that improvements in both are necessary for national growth.

He urged scholars to choose new topics that will bring positive changes in the society.

Vice Chancellor of the Fatima Jinnah Women’s University Dr Samina Amin Qadir appreciated HEC’s efforts towards promoting the social sciences.

She talked about the different topics of the research papers put on show at the seminar and lauded the efforts of the researches.

Director General Academics HEC Fida Hussein said the recommendations of the seminar will be shared with universities across the country so other researchers could benefit as well.

The scholars whose research under HEC’s Thematic Research Grant Programme was put on display include Vice Chancellor Bahauddin Zakariya University Dr. Tahir Amin, Professor Lahore University of Management Sciences Dr. Rasul Bakhsh Rais, Dr. Najma Najam, Dr. Pervaiz Ahmed Memon from Sukkur Institute of Business Administration, Dr. Fauzia Maqsood and Dr Sami Ullah from the University of Gujrat, Dr. Sami Ullah, Dr. Asma Manzoor University of Karachi, and Dr. Ijaz Hussain, BNU.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2016