Judicial panel finds former top NHSRC & PMDC bosses at fault

Islamabad

A judicial inquiry into the December 2010 ‘controversial’ go-ahead to 19 medical and dental colleges to offer admissions has found the then top bosses of the National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Ministry and the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council to be on the wrong side of the law by and large.

In its report, a copy of which is secured by this scribe, the three-strong commission led by former Lahore High Court judge Shabbar Raza Rizvi has pointed out serious irregularities in the recognition of Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Medical College, Karachi; People’s University of Medical and Health Sciences, Nawabshah; Al-Nafees Medical College, Islamabad; Amerrud Din Medical College, Lahore; Aziz Fatimah Medical and Dental College, Faisalabad; Khawaja Muhammad Safdar Medical College, Sialkot; Rawal Institute of Health Sciences, Islamabad; Gujranwala Medical College, Gujranwala; Bhittai Medical and Dental College, Mirpurkhas; Sahiwal Medical College, Sahiwal; Muhammad Bin Qasim Medical and Dental College, Karachi; Bannu Medical College, Bannu; Pakistan Red Crescent Medical and Dental College, Lahore; Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Medical College, Mirpur; Hashmat Medical and Dental College, Gujrat; AJ&K Medical College, Muzaffarabad; Quetta Institute of Medical Sciences, Quetta; dental section of Dow International Medical College, Karachi, and Islam Dental College, Sialkot, under Section 13 of the PMDC (Amendment) Act, 2012, declaring them ‘very unpleasant and difficult to digest.’ According to it, the former top NHSRC ministry officials were at fault for accepting and forwarding incomplete applications for recognition of medical colleges to PMDC and those of PMDC for approving them in serious violation of the rules.

Even the commission pointed out: “A note of 30th December, 2011 shows that then secretary Ghulam Rasool Aphan at the NHSRC Ministry, then deputy secretary Irshad Hussain and then director general (health) Dr. Fayyaz Ahmad Ranjha were sitting together when they approved 19 files of medical colleges by signing. It also appears that the then NHSRC secretary and director general (health) used the same pen.”

During the inquiry, the commission formed by the NHSRC ministry visited the medical and dental colleges of Sindh, Punjab, Islamabad, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. However, law-enforcement agencies stopped it from visiting the two medical colleges, one in Bannu and second in Quetta, for security reasons.

As stated in the report, the laid-down procedure was not followed in the recognition of any of the 19 medical and dental colleges whether they’re government-owned or private.

“The Article 5 of the Constitution ordains that obedience to the Constitution and law is an inviolable obligation. As for PMDC Ordinance, 1962, it’s obligatory for the officeholders of federal, provincial and Azad Jammu and Kashmir governments to obey the command of provision of its sections 11 and 18 regarding college recognitions but unfortunately, it has not been done so. If the governments and their senior most officers will trample upon the law so cruelly, then what should we expect from their juniors and the ordinary citizens? The leaders of Pakistan must set good examples if they really want to lead this nation towards a right direction.” The commission insists the public and private sectors have different motivations for opening medical colleges.

“In private sector, the motivating factor for establishment of a medical college was to make good money, whereas in public sector, the urge to set up a medical college was either to serve people or to gain political mileage or both.” The commission proposes de-recognition of five of the said colleges over failure to fulfil the PMDC recognition criteria and strict monitoring of the rest; adjustment of the affected students in recognised medical colleges; opposed the lifting of moratorium on the opening of new medical and dental institutions, and suggested better functioning of PMDC and one-year ban on guilty inspectors.

It also recommends that the NHSRC minister meet prime minister and the provincial chief ministers to ‘convince’ them not to commit any illegal and irregular act for the recognition of medical or dental colleges, saying if this happens, then nobody at the ministry or PMDC will dare repeat what has already happened in the recognition of 19 medical and dental colleges.

The minister has also been pushed for formally advising the relevant people in the Punjab government against offering admissions to medical colleges, which are neither recognised by PMDC nor affiliated with University of Health Sciences, Lahore like PESSI Medical College of Faisalabad.

The medical colleges recommended to be derecognised include Muhammad Bin Qasim Medical College, Karachi; Bhittai Dental College, Mirpurkhas; Sahiwal Medical College; Pakistan Red Crescent Society Medical College, Lahore, and Hashmat Medical and Dental College, Gujrat, saying they’re not in a position to fulfil the criteria laid down by PMDC for a lawful recognition.

“Their (colleges) application forms when applied were not complete to go through Stage X of the registration process i.e. registration of students. They were also not found to be delivering at the time of inspections by the commission. However, they should be allowed to apply de novo for recognition if they fulfil the legal requirements.” As for other colleges, the commission recommends continuation of their operations due to availability of adequate teaching and clinical facilities.

Specifically, there’s an advice for the federal government to keep tabs on the financial affairs of its two medical colleges, AJ&K Medical College, Muzaffarabad and Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Medical College, Mirpur to ensure that the taxpayers’ money is spent honestly and to achieve the set targets.

When contacted, NHSRC Minister Saira Afzal Tarar said the Sindh High Court had stayed action on the report of inquiry into the 19 medical colleges’ recognition.

“We need the court’s order to enforce the inquiry’s findings. And once that order is issued, we’ll act accordingly,” she said.

 

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