National Assembly Standing Committee on Science and Technology, which met here with Sajid Mehdi was told that the NIE working under the Ministry of Science and Technology is unable to perform efficiently and is facing various difficulties in the pursuance of administrative matters as well as the implementation of projects due to the absence of a permanent director general, research officers and technical heads.
The acting DG Institute of Electronics briefed the committee about the mandate functions, expertise, major research and the achievements of the institute. He further informed that the NIE has great potential to run the institute on commercial basis but it is only possible subject to the availability of funds.
The committee was informed that the NIE is an important institution of the ministry which was mandated to design and develop various items of electronics for various user organizations, impart advanced training in electronics and execute small-scale production of specialized components and computer equipment. But as it turns out NIE can make LEDs locally but it could not sell these in the local market for commercial purposes due to too much duties/taxes on raw material.
