Engineering and Technology Development Affairs of Pakistan: The Way Forward

Pakistan Council of Engineers (PEC) is the apex regulatory body for engineering in Pakistan which, under the mandate of PEC, is responsible for the registration of engineers, consulting engineers and accreditation of engineering programs offered by universities/institutions.

It ensures and manages ongoing professional development, assists the Federal Government as a Think Tank, establishes standards for engineering products and services, and protects the interests of its members. Quite a handful, obviously, but is it up to the onerous task assigned to it in its current form?

The answer, unfortunately, is a big no, given past and present achievements and behavior.

A regulatory body responsible for overseeing and maintaining multidimensional professional standards of excellence is supposed to have the best talent for technical proficiency and integrity to enforce professional excellence in professional, educational, and technological development areas of engineering. However, the foundation has evolved into an elected body representing specific interests such as those of contractors and construction company cliques.

Pakistan needs a PEC that will take the country forward by improving the professional standards of engineering and preparing engineers and technicians to take up technological responsibilities at the national and international levels with maximum competence.

Indian and Chinese technological development was spearheaded by their premier engineering and technology institutions, but here in Pakistan such initiatives were not encouraged. Some leading universities of science and technology, such as NUST, which were granted a charter, also diversified their disciplines to include business management and social sciences.

Others, such as the National University of Technology (NUTECH), instead of focusing exclusively on technology degrees and diplomas, diversified into engineering programs.

Compared to the above, there are 23 IITs in India, all focused on specific specialties and producing world-class engineers.

Here in Pakistan, the PEC, which should have highlighted such needs to the HEC and other policy-making government ministries, has failed to ensure the development of specialized institutes of engineering and technology.

PEC, as the premier engineering and technology regulator, should have retained the ownership of technology skill development institutes as technology and engineering are closely related. The PEC abdicated this responsibility and allowed alternative regulatory institutions such as the NTC to be created under the HEC.

The NTC ideally should have been developed under the PEC as it has complementarity with engineering disciplines, rather than creating a separate regulatory body disconnected from the premier engineering institution of the country.

Another glaring failure of the PEC was its failure to implement its own laws enacted under an Act of Parliament in 1976. According to these laws, all foreign engineering and construction companies wishing to undertake projects in Pakistan must hire a percentage Pakistani engineers except for the participation of a certain percentage (30%) of Pakistani enterprises in joint ventures.

The above was necessary to develop the expertise of Pakistani companies and engineers while working on specialized technology and engineering projects in Pakistan. An additional spinoff of this policy has been to provide jobs to Pakistani engineers, who are suffering from unemployment and exploitation at the hands of the contract business mafias.

Surprisingly, the PEC exempted Chinese companies and CPEC projects from both of the above requirements, depriving Pakistani engineers of valuable project experience and employment opportunities.

Why this violation of PEC laws took place is a question that deserves to be answered by the PEC leadership. The PEC is supposed to control the quality of project development companies, including their categorization based on financial, technical and ethical control by the PEC.

Over time, the quality of Pakistani companies and contractors has declined due to PEC’s grandiose licensing practices. It is worth investigating how much influence bargaining and corruption are involved in the PEC’s licensing practices.

In addition to the above, there are rumors of corruption and mismanagement in PEC governance and administrative affairs. The PEC has a bloated governing body of 65 elected members, which is unwieldy but does not represent many vital sectors.

For example, the vital specialty of aerospace was linked with telecom for electoral purposes in the 2024 PEC elections, meaning a telecom engineer would represent an aerospace discipline in the governing body.

Then there are question marks about such a large number of governing body members whose TA/DAA and other expenses run into millions at the expense of other essential requirements like the welfare of unemployed engineers.

A former member of the governing body, engineer Zahur Sarwar, has registered allegations of corruption against the PEC, citing an amount of 50 billion in a televised debate. The PEC, as a very important institution, should undergo a formal audit by government auditors through the internationally recognized Big Four audit firms to allay such allegations of misappropriation of funds.

The PEC should seriously consider gutting its bloated organization, including a weak 65-member governing body. There is also a need for ethical and technical scrutiny of contesting members in PEC elections as many shadowy characters can be elected using money and malpractices.

Accessing unfair means in PEC elections, the example of recently held August 2024 PEC elections is striking. Serious allegations of influence through excessive spending during the election campaign surfaced.

Now, if the candidates for the top slots and the governing body resort to massive spending to buy votes, one can only imagine the fate of the PEC. Lavish symposia and advertisements using social media and even PTCL channels were used as gimmicks to woo voters.

Big business contractor mafias and vested interests use money to gain leadership positions in a regulatory body that, like the HEC, should be commissioned on the basis of technical competence and moral rectitude.

The conduct of the 2024 PEC elections was a failed affair with several cases of polling station mismanagement. Instead of suitable premises with spacious infrastructure, the cramped and crowded premises of NADRA offices were used, where several engineers could not reach due to heavy traffic or lack of parking.

The worst glitch was the downing of the NADRA link for more than 4 hours, which created confusion and the return of several voters who did not return to vote. Apart from serious questions about the credibility of the NADRA system, doubts were raised about the legitimacy of the election due to the four-hour pause.

PEC is too sensitive an organization to be placed at the mercy of vested interests. Serious consideration should be given to changing the system of selection of PEC leadership from elections to appointments, just like the Chairman of HEC. Instead of a bloated governing body, a lean supplementary body comprising the best and brightest from all the provinces could be considered.

Financial audit of PEC should be conducted under government supervision for financial transparency and NTC should also be brought under PEC for better synergy between engineering and technology. The country cannot reach the big league of technologically advanced nations without fixing the PEC.

The author is the IPRI Director and former Project Manager and Chief Naval Engineer. He can be contacted at: rwjanj@hotmail.com