# Ministry of Science and Technology (Pakistan)

The Ministry of Science and Technology (Urdu: وزارتِ سائنس و فنیات, wazarat-e-science-o-technology) (abbreviated as MoST) is a Cabinet-level Ministry of the Government of Pakistan concerned with Science and Technology in Pakistan and in general, Pakistan's science policy, planning, coordination and directing of efforts to initiate and launch scientific and technological programs as well as projects aimed at economic development.
The ministry is coordinated by the Federal Minister for Science and Technology who is currently Agha Hassan Baloch and is headquartered in Islamabad.

## Mission

To achieve the security, prosperity and social cohesion of Pakistan through equitable and sustainable socio-economic progress using science, technology and innovation as central pillars of development in all sectors of economic activity.
The principle agenda of the MoST is building Pakistan's technological competence in the 21st century by leap forging into new markets, develop a larger pool of human resource for reverse brain drain and integrate the soft technology infrastructure into hard modern technological base, strengthen technology institutions, effective S & TR governance and enhance the capacity if indigenous innovation systems.

## Federal Ministers/Ministers of State/Advisers/In-charge, Ministry of Science and Technology

The Scientific and Technological Research Division (S&TRD) established in 1960 was initially responsible to administer the National Science Council, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the Atomic Energy Commission and the Space and Upper Atmospheric Research Committee. The status of S&TR Division was raised to the level of full-fledged Ministry of Science and Technology “MoST” in 1972.
List of Federal Ministers, Ministers of State and Advisers to the PM :
| No. | Name | Took office | Left office | Tenure | Note(s) |
| No. | Name | Took office | Left office | Tenure | Note(s) | 1 | Habibur Rehman | 17 February 1960 | 17 April 1961 | 1 year, 59 days | Federal Minister for Education, Re-designated as Minister of Education & Scientific Research |
| 2 | Akhtar Husain | 17 April 1961 | 1 March 1962 | 318 days | Federal Minister for Education & Scientific Research |
| 3 | Lieutenant General WA Burki | 2 March 1962 | 8 June 1962 | 98 days | Federal Minister for Education & Scientific Research |
| 4 | Ghulam Faruque | 1 January 1966 | 15 July 1967 | 1 year, 195 days | Federal Minister for Scientific and Technological Research |
| 5 | Vice Admiral S.M. Ahsan | 5 April 1969 | 6 May 1969 | 31 days | Incharge M/o Scientific & Technological Research |
| 6 | Air Marshal Nur Khan | 7 May 1969 | 3 August 1969 | 88 days | Incharge Scientific & Technological Research |
| 7 | Muhammad Shamsul Huq | 4 August 1969 | 22 February 1971 | 1 year, 202 days | Federal Minister for Education and Scientific Research |
| 8 | Khurshid Hasan Meer | 17 August 1973 | 22 October 1974 | 1 year, 66 days | Minister without portfolio (looked after work of the Ministry) Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 9 | Abdul Hafeez Pirzada | 22 October 1974 | 5 February 1976 | 1 year, 106 days | Federal Minister for Education, Science and Technology and Provincial Coordination |
| 10 | Hafeezullah Cheema | 22 October 1974 | 9 January 1975 | 79 days | Minister of State for Science and Technology |
| 11 | Saeed-ur-Rashid Abbasi | 10 January 1975 | 5 February 1976 | 1 year, 26 days | Minister of State for Science and Technology |
| 12 | Malik Muhammad Jaffer | 5 February 1976 | 24 January 1977 | 354 days | Minister of State for Science and Technology |
| 13 | Niaz Muhammad Wassan | 30 March 1977 | 5 July 1977 | 97 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 14 | Mohammad Arshad Chaudhri | 27 August 1978 | 21 April 1979 | 237 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 15 | Hamid Nasir Chattha | 28 January 1986 | 31 May 1986 | 123 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 16 | Mir Haji Tareen | 28 September 1986 | 20 December 1986 | 83 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 17 | Malik Muhammad Naeem Khan | 15 May 1988 | 29 May 1988 | 14 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 18 | Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan | 9 June 1988 | 1 December 1988 | 175 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 19 | Jehangir Bader | 4 December 1988 | 20 September 1989 | 290 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 20 | Javed Jabbar | 20 September 1989 | 6 August 1990 | 320 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 21 | Hazar Khan Bijarani | 13 August 1990 | 6 November 1990 | 85 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology (Caretaker Government) |
| 22 | Hamid Nasir Chattha | 9 November 1990 | 10 September 1991 | 305 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 23 | Mian Muhammad Zaman | 9 June 1991 | 18 July 1993 | 2 years, 39 days | Minister of State for Science and Technology |
| 24 | Elahi Bux Soomro | 10 September 1991 | 9 June 1993 | 1 year, 272 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 25 | Mohammad Shafiq | 23 July 1993 | 19 October 1993 | 88 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 26 | Mohammad Nawaz Khokhar | 31 July 1996 | 5 November 1996 | 97 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 27 | Abida Hussain | 5 November 1996 | 15 December 1996 | 40 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology (Caretaker Government) |
| 28 | Atta-ur-Rahman (chemist) | 14 March 2000 | 23 November 2002 | 2 years, 254 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 29 | Atta-ur-Rahman (chemist) | 24 November 2002 | 25 August 2004 | 1 year, 275 days | Adviser to Prime Minister of Pakistan Zafarullah Khan Jamali |
| 30 | Nouraiz Shakoor | 3 September 2004 | 15 November 2007 | 3 years, 73 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 31 | Shamsh Kassim-Lakha | 16 November 2007 | 24 March 2008 | 129 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology (Caretaker Government) |
| 32 | Tehmina Daultana | 31 March 2008 | 12 May 2008 | 42 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 33 | Azam Khan Swati | 29 January 2009 | 14 December 2010 | 1 year, 319 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 34 | Aftab Hussain Shah Jillani | 14 December 2010 | 12 February 2011 | 60 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 35 | Mir Changez Khan Jamali | 12 February 2011 | 16 March 2013 | 2 years, 32 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 36 | Sania Nishtar | 4 April 2013 | 5 June 2013 | 62 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology (Caretaker Government) |
| 37 | Khurram Dastgir Khan | 7 June 2013 | 22 June 2013 | 15 days | Minister of State for Science and Technology |
| 38 | Zahid Hamid | 22 June 2013 | 21 November 2014 | 1 year, 152 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 39 | Rana Tanveer Hussain | 17 December 2014 | 28 July 2017 | 2 years, 223 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 40 | Mir Dostain Khan Domki | 15 September 2017 | 24 November 2017 | 70 days | Minister of State for Science and Technology |
| 41 | Rana Tanveer Hussain | 24 November 2017 | 31 May 2018 | 188 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 42 | Muhammad Yusuf Shaikh | 6 June 2018 | 18 August 2018 | 73 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology (Caretaker Government) |
| 43 | Azam Khan Swati | 5 October 2018 | 6 December 2018 | 62 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 44 | Fawad Chaudhry | 19 April 2019 | 18 April 2021 | 1 year, 364 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 45 | Shibli Faraz | 19 April 2021 | 10 April 2022 | 356 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 46 | Agha Hassan Baloch | 22 April 2022 | 10 August 2023 | 1 year, 109 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |
| 47 | Umar Saif | 18 August 2023 | 4 March 2024 | 199 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology (Caretaker Government) |
| 48 | Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui | 18 March 2024 | Incumbent | 359 days | Federal Minister for Science and Technology |

## Organizations

The following organizations are situated under the Ministry of Science and Technology:-
* National University of Sciences and Technology, Pakistan (NUST)
* COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI)
* Council for Work and Housing Research (CWHR)
* National Institute of Electronics (NIE)
* National Institute of Oceanography (Pakistan) (NIO)
* National University of Technology (NUTECH)
* Pakistan Council for Renewable Energy Technologies (PCRET)
* Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR)
* Pakistan Council for Science and Technology (PCST)
* Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR)
* Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC)
* Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC)
* Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF)
** Pakistan Museum of Natural History (PMNH)
** Pakistan Scientific and Technological Information Center (PASTIC)
* Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA)
* Pakistan Halal Authority (PHA)
* STEDEC Technology Commercialization Corporation of Pakistan (Private) limited

## PakMoonSighting.pk

The ministry launched a lunar observatory website in 2019 aimed at to show the citizens about the Islamic events, holidays, and primarily crescent associated with lunar calendar dates. The website claims to have modern features such as predetermine the future-dates or arrival of Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha and other events based on scientific evidences and observations through moon sighting.