HEC seats for Balochistan and Ex-FATA restored

Syed Muhammad Yaseen

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan announced the restoration of Medical seats for Balochistan and Ex-FATA for the year 2022. For the last few weeks students of Balochistan and Ex-FATA were on a sit-in before the HEC office in Islamabad for the restoration of 265 medical seats.

Test for these fully funded medical seats was not taken in 2021 which arose concerns among the medical aspirants and they feared the cancellation of the program. A number of strikes and rallies were organized by medical aspirants of both provinces.

Mounting pressure forces HEC to restore seats

After mounting pressure on HEC through social media and physical campaigns the institution sent notifications to provincial governments for the restoration process. Recently, an advertisement from Bolan University of Medical and Health Sciences reveals that HEC seats for the province are restored and students can apply for medical seats.

Secretary Health Balochistan, Noor Ul Haq Baloch played a key role in the restoration of this program. We are waiting for a response from the Sindh government for seat allocation, Dr. Ababgar Baloch, Health department Balochistan representative told Quetta Voice. Right now these seats are restored for session 2021-2022 and PC1 worth Rs: 9 Billion has been sent to Planning Commission Islamabad by HEC for the next five years, he added.