PMDC council sans Sindh, Balochistan representation

ISLAMABAD: Federal Government's recent notification regarding PMDC council members has been heavily criticized for not including representation from Sindh and Balochistan.

This is in violation of the PM&DC rules, according to which two members belonging to clinical and basic sciences from each province must be included. Moreover, one member, a dental professional, is to be nominated for half of the tenure of the council by Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

According to the ministry Sindh did not nominate any members yet and the nominations from Balochistan were received late and will now be processed for approval from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement Senator has raised this issue on the floor of the house and said: “I have learnt that efforts are being made to elect the President of Council without the inclusion of members from two important provinces. I suggest that the president should not be elected as long as the council remains incomplete.”

He also questioned government;s decision to promulgate the PMDC ordinance through a backdoor route rather than tabling the bill in parliament.

It is pertinent to mention that in the first week of January, President Arif Alvi promulgated an ordinance titled ‘PMDC Ordinance 2019’ suggesting that a 17-member council would deal with the issues related to medical colleges, attached hospitals and health professionals.

On Feb 28, the NHS ministry notified 12 members of the council despite the fact that the government of Balochistan had issued a notification dated Feb 21 in which three members were nominated. Those members included former PMDC president Prof Dr Shabir Lehri for clinical faculty, Prof Nadeem Samad Sheikh for the basic sciences faculty and Prof Mirza Khan for the seat of dentistry.

The notification was widely criticized because there was no mention of the five members from Sindh and Balochistan.

The Private Medical and Dental Institutions’ General Secretary Khaqan Waheed Khawaja said that the PMDC president should not be elected without having a representation of Sindh and Balochistan in the council.