The Senate Standing Committee on National Heritage and Culture on Tuesday passed the bill for the merger of Aiwan-e-Iqbal Complex (AIC) with Iqbal Academy Pakistan (IAP).
The Committee which met here with Dr. Afnan Ullah Khan in the chair passed Iqbal Academy Pakistan Bill 2022 with majority which was passed by the National Assembly and moved in the Senate Sitting held on August 18, 2022. Advisor to the Prime Minister on National Heritage Engr. Amir Muqaam said the bill would help to keep the work of the legends alive and to execute the cultural assets of the country in a better manner.
The Committee examined the bill clause by clause and proposed amendments. However, the committee believed that no substantial change could be observed in the recommendations to the objective of the bill for merger of Aiwan-e-Iqbal (AIC) with Iqbal Academy Pakistan (IAP). The officials informed the committee that the Iqbal academy of Pakistan (IAO) was founded in 1951 by the Iqbal Academy Act and re-enacted through the Iqbal Academy ordinance No XXVI 1962.
It was a statutory body of the Government of Pakistan and a center of excellence for Iqbal studies. The committee was briefed that authorities for Aiwan -e-Iqbal was created by a resolution of the defunct Ministry of Culture in 1984 with the sole propose and objective of carrying out the master plan of complex construction of the Aiwan which was completed in 1997.
The Aiwan was being managed in adhoc basis through a management committee, as it did not have regular and sustainable administrative structure.
The Iqbal Academy Pakistan Bill sought to give effect to the merger of the two organizations, namely Iqbal Academy Pakistan and Aiwan -e-Iqbal. The meeting was attended by other senators including Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Saeed Ahmed Hashmi, Keshoo Bai, and Rubina Khalid.
