National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) Chairperson Razina Alam Khan called on Minister for Federal Education & Professional Training Muhammad Yousaf Sheikh on Tuesday. Muhammad Yousaf Sheikh welcomed the NCHD chairperson, and matters related to education and NCHD were discussed during the meeting. The NCHD Chairperson Razina Alam Khan apprised Federal Minister Yousaf Sheikh about NCHD projects of Functional Literacy and Teachers Training Institute in the field of non-formal education. She also apprised the federal minister about First National Training Institute for non-formal education established by NCHD for training of community schools teachers. Yousaf Sheikh lauded the efforts of NCHD for the promotion of education and said that he would soon visit NCHD. Separately, the Senate Functional Committee on Problems of Less Developed Areas in its meeting on Tuesday has asked the Finance Division and Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training to sit together and resolve the financial and administrative issues of NCHD and legal hiccups if any regarding their pay-scales, regularisation of contract employees and administrative steps needed. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Senator Muhammad Usman Kakar at the Parliament House on Tuesday and was attended among others by Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, Maulvi Faiz Muhammad, Fida Muhammad, Muhammad Ayub, Haji Momin Khan Afridi, Nighat Mirza, Kalsoom Parveen, Ministry of Federal Education & Professional Training Senior Joint Secretary Mushtaq Ahmed, Razina Alam Khan and Finance Division Financial Adviser Muhammad Bilal among others. The committee chairman directed NCHD to send the list of fake degree holding employees to Finance Division and the list of dual employment holders by July 2 which will then be processed by Finance Division in the next few days for grant against the financial demands of NCHD. The committee has been taking up the issues of NCHD since the previous tenure and has made concrete recommendations. The committee sought details of the educational and training centres operating in the country under NCHD. The committee was told that around 1,600 centres in Punjab, 1,500 in Sindh, 400 in Balochistan and 300 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are present. The committee asked to provide assessment details of these centres in the next meeting. About regularisation of contractual employees, the committee was told that Finance Division has released sanction for regularisation of 2,641 out of 2,943 posts. Published in Daily Times, June 27th 2018.