ISLAMABAD- The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has started mobilizing all public and private universities of the country to play an effective role in supporting the North Waziristan IDPs.

More than 0.8 million people from the tribal agency have been displaced due to the ongoing operation Zarb-e-Azb in North Waziristan.

In this regard, a meeting of the Vice Chancellors of the public and private universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was held in Peshawar under the chairmanship of Prof. Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman HEC.

An account has been opened for donations by the universities across Pakistan. As part of an initial deposit, HEC is contributing a single-day salary of all its employees.

The forum recommended the constitution of two committees. One is the Need Analysis Committee headed by Muhammad Ibrahim Khattak, Vice Chancellor, Khushal Khan Khattak University, Karak. The other is the Task Force Committee, headed by Imtiaz Gillani, Vice Chancellor, University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar.

 The former committee will submit its recommendation to the Task Force Committee, which will work out the financial impact and recommend the release of funds out of the account maintained at HEC Islamabad. The latter committee will also submit an Audited Statement of Accounts of Expenditure.