JPMC warns against change in its status

Centre says it will discontinue teaching Sindh Medical University students.

KARACHI: The Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) will discontinue teaching Sindh Medical University students if attempts were made to change the status of the state-run institution and the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) as it will violate the Sindh High Court’s order.

The academic, administrative councils and unit heads of the JPMC issued a joint resolution on Tuesday in reference to the nascent ‘Sindh Medical University’ bill, which is about to be brought forth in the Sindh Assembly soon.

“The two federal institutions cannot be declared as constituent parts of Sindh Medical University,” said a statement issued from the JPMC’s joint executive director, Dr Seemin Jamali’s, office.

It added that any such decision will render both institutions, as well as their entire staff, subordinate to the proposed university.

The JPMC officials declared the move as contradictory to the agreement that the two institutions and the teaching staff had with the Sindh Medical College and later Dow University of Health Sciences.

The change in service structure and service rules of all federal government employees working at JPMC and NICH was against the existing rules as they were on deputation to the Sindh government stated the JPMC staff.

They added that it was also a serious violation of the Sindh High Court’s Order No D-1692/2011 and liable to be contested legally.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7^th, 2012.