Engr. Najeeb resolves to contest for second term, expects allies’ support Contesting for the last time; Oldies should leave space for younger lot, PEC Chairman PEC advices former chairmen bracing for polls

Chairman Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) Engr. Muhammad Najeeb Haroon is determined to contest PEC Elections 2024 for the second term and expects that his key allies—National Engineers Association (NEA), led by Engr. Abdul Qadir Shah and Engr. Mukhtar Sheikh will support him.
‘Contesting for the second tenure is my right {by the Act} and also necessary for the continuity of the programs, of them a number are very innovative ones like the On Job Training (OJT) Program and have benefitted engineers in Pakistan’, Engr. Haroon told Engineering Review.
I have already announced in clear terms that I would contest the PEC elections and also communicated this to my allies, friends, and my team, now it’s their decision if they continue to support me, says Engr. Haroon. However, he said he expected his allies to stand along with him like they did in the last elections.
”The PEC Elections 2024 would be my last election which I shall contest in the PEC he declared saying he would never cling to it and leave space for younger generations.
Chairman PEC who presided over the council’s last GB meeting of the year 2023 with a major decision to declare the Year 2024 as the Year of Information Technology, aimed to transform the council into a technology-driven headquarters of engineers in Pakistan where colonial-style files tied with red ribbons have outplaced the offices at Islamabad advised all ‘oldies’ aspirants of top office who have already held the office of the chairman should step down for the younger generations.
Engr. Najeeb says Pakistan’s young engineers are not impotent that the older lot is clung to power and never allowed their younger generations to take the reins. Without taking their names, he advised previous chairmen of the PEC, for floating younger leaders from their camps for the next PEC Elections.
Engr. Haroon justified his candidature for the next term on the basis of what he termed as his performance which included his efforts to transform the council into a well-connected organization at the national as well as the international levels.
He said he brought professionals to the council in various departments especially in Finance and IT. Now, they will celebrate the year 2024 as the year of IT and shall computerize all departments from top to bottom so that transparency is ensured in all processes of registrations and services to engineers and create swift connectivity with consultants both at the national as well as international levels.
Engr. Haroon claimed the PEC is now connected with international engineering organizations and has earned appreciation at various forums including the one held in Dubai recently.
A Washington Accord Review team has recently visited various universities in Pakistan and we are sure to be able to have a 6-year extension in the program, he says.
Engr. Haroon said he launched the On Job Training (OJT) Program under which over 4000 young engineers have been trained and many have gotten jobs in those organizations. This program would continue until all engineers are accommodated in their jobs, he declared.
The PEC chairman who inaugurated the council’s Lahore Regional Office, an 8-storey building in the heart of the city on the eve of the GB moot believes he has sufficient performance points to claim the second stint in the office revealing that the council has decided to fund 593 final year projects of the students of engineering universities across Pakistan. Never has happened and no one has ever taken such decisions, he says. This is an outcome of a grand moot of 102 engineering universities of Pakistan that was organized in Faisalabad by the council . Capstone 2024 will be held in Islamabad and all the provincial capitals showcasing final year engineering projects which in the past mostly become part of decorative objects in universities’ shelves, Engr. Najeeb says.