Club suspends corporate membership of NEST, returns money.

ISLAMABAD -- The elite Islamabad Club has suspended the corporate membership of National Endowment Scholarships for Talent (NEST) and returned Rs25 million to the said organisation.

In response to a news report, the management of the Islamabad Club stated that the new committee of the Islamabad Club 'detected illegal corporate membership of National Endowment Scholarships for Talent, a government-owned organisation under Section 42 of Companies Ordinance, established through public funds and reported the matter to the prime minister'.

The statement claimed that the administrator of the Islamabad Club immediately suspended the membership of the staff of NEST and highlighted this matter to the Ministry of Education.

The management of the club went on to state that government funds amounting to Rs25 million which were wrongly used for obtaining corporate membership of the club while concealing facts and the non-profit charter of NEST have been refunded.

It may be mentioned that the additional secretary of the Ministry of Education and Professional Training heads NEST as its CEO. The board headed by former education minister Shafqat Mehmood approved the corporate membership of NEST. The subsequent approvals for the issuance of complimentary cards and the release of Rs25 million were allegedly granted by additional secretaries Mohiyuddin Wani and Asim Iqbal, respectively. Mr Wani is currently working as Gilgit-Baltistan chief secretary and Mr Iqbal is posted in the Cabinet Division.

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