ISLAMABAD: Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar on Tuesday told the Senate that there was no restriction or ban on the admission of Baloch students in Punjab’s public sector universities.
Responding to a point raised by Senator Kamran Murtaza during the Senate session, the minister said 3,850 Baloch students were currently enrolled in public sector universities across Punjab, adding that the quota allocated for Baloch students remained fully intact.
He said most of these students were studying at Punjab University, Government College University, Bahauddin Zakariya University, the Islamia University of Bahawalpur and other public sector institutions in the province.
The minister said that in some universities, admissions under the Baloch quota were lower only because applications had not been submitted against the available seats.
Sharing a gender and merit-based breakdown, Azam Nazeer Tarar said that of the total enrolled students, 3,419 were male and 431 were female. He added that 58 percent had secured admission on open merit, while 42 percent were admitted under the reserved Baloch quota, in line with a uniform policy.
He said there was no discrimination in the admissions process, explaining that universities applied a consistent criterion under which candidates with the highest merit within the quota were granted admission.
Addressing concerns related to admissions in medical colleges, the minister said each university regulated admissions in accordance with decisions taken by its syndicate. He added that the federal government had issued a general directive encouraging universities to accommodate Baloch students under their respective quota frameworks.
He clarified that there was no ban or restriction on the admission of Baloch students to medical colleges, but minimum merit requirements applied, as medical education was a professional and sensitive field.
Azam Nazeer Tarar said the matter could be taken up further with the Punjab government if required, adding that senior adviser to the Punjab government Nosheen Rehman had volunteered to pursue the issue at the provincial level.
