1,500 anxious students line up

Despite an initial lack of faculty and accreditation, the college finally opens.

KARACHI:

The Benazir Bhutto Medical College in Lyari, which was constructed in December 2009, opened for admissions on Wednesday.

As the administration continued to wrangle with legal problems, hundreds of students lined up outside the college to fill out admission forms. “So far 1,500 students have submitted forms on just the first day,” said vice-principal Dr Anjum Rehman.

Sindh Assembly Deputy Speaker Shehla Raza and MNA Qadir Patel were among the many who turned up on the first day. They spoke about “not letting Lyari fall into the throes of darkness again”.

The idea for the college dates to 2009, when it was announced that a medical school and a cardiac ward would be set up at the Lyari General Hospital under the Lyari Development Project at a cost of Rs930 million.

Since its inception, however, the college faced one setback after another. The inauguration date, set in 2010, changed thrice, leaving students in the area frustrated. After a meeting with residents, President Asif Ali Zardari finally inaugurated the college in February 2010. The college then fell short of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council’s (PMDC) standards because ‘it lacked equipment and necessary teaching departments’. Problems continued to surface when interviewed faculty members refused to work at the ‘low salaries’ offered and because of the law and order situation in the area. The vice-principal admitted that teachers refused the initial salaries provided. “But now the government is giving them their market price and the issue has been resolved,” he added.

Construction and legal issues crept up when residents misplaced leases, which were valid till 2036. Once again, people began to think that the plan would fall apart.

Sher Muhammed Raees, a Pakistan Peoples Party member from the area, said that the orthopaedic and cardiology wards are still incomplete. “The college administration should be more upfront with the government if they do not want the college to be left incomplete.” Vice-principal Rehman refuted the claim, “For a college to be accredited by the PMDC, it needs to have an ENT, eye, medical surgery and gynaecology departments to start with and we have them all.” Other departments such as orthopaedics, dermatology, psychiatry will be required in the third year of medical training and they will be set up by that time, he added.

While commenting on infrastructure, Minister for Katchi Abadis and Spatial Development Muhammed Rafiq Engineer told The Express Tribune that the building within the college’s boundary would be removed soon. “The building accommodates Lyari hospital employees and they have vacated the building,” he assured. The warehouses in the area are the board of revenue’s property and are also being freed, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2011.