Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar on Tuesday informed the Senate that there was no restriction or ban on admissions of Baloch students in Punjab’s public sector universities. Responding to a point raised by Senator Kamran Murtaza in the Senate, the minister said that a total of 3,850 Baloch students were currently enrolled in various universities across Punjab and that their quota remained fully intact. 

He said the majority of these students were studying at Punjab University, Government College University, Bahauddin Zakariya University, the Islamia University of Bahawalpur, and other public sector institutions. He said that in some universities, fewer admissions had occurred only because applications had not been submitted against the quota. Providing a gender and merit-wise breakdown, Azam Nazeer Tarar said that out of the total 3,850 students, 3,419 were male and 431 were female.

He said 58 percent of the students had secured admission on open merit, while 42 percent were admitted against the reserved Baloch quota, under a uniform policy. The minister said there was no discrimination in the admission process, explaining that universities followed a consistent yardstick whereby candidates with the highest merit within the quota were granted admission. 

Responding to concerns regarding medical college admissions, he said each university regulated admissions in accordance with decisions of its syndicate, while 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 Baloch students’ admission to medical colleges, but minimum merit criteria applied, as medical education was a professional and sensitive field. Azam Nazeer Tarar said the matter could be further taken up with the Punjab government if needed, adding that senior adviser to the Punjab government Nosheen Rehman had volunteered to pursue the issue at the provincial level. 

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)