Governing boards of all medical teaching institutes dissolved in KP

Govt to select members for new board next week

PESHAWAR: After a court stay order was vacated and the set time expired, the board of governors of all the medical teaching institutes (MTIs) in the province have been dissolved.

The apex court had earlier in June directed to dissolve the board of governors (BoGs) of the nine teaching hospitals in the province, but it had allowed the BoGs to remain in place the new boards were formed. Later a stay order had been issued. That stay, however, ended on Friday, automatically dissolving the boards.



Officials privy to the developments stated that since the boards have been dissolved, the health department will be holding a meeting on Monday whereby new BoGs for MTIs will be finalised by appointing officials nominated by a selection committee.

“On account of the unsatisfactory performance of the BoGs, created by the management of different hospitals, the boards are dissolved and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) chief secretary is directed to prepare and move a summary for consulting new boards,” the apex court at its registry in the provincial capital had ordered earlier in June.

The bench, however, had directed that until the new government takes over, the new boards created may include some members who are part of the past set up as decided by the caretaker chief minister.

Apart from the dissolution of the boards, the government was directed to launch an inquiry into the appointments and promotions at these institutions.

The provincial government, in a notification issued earlier this month, stated that a committee will be formed to probe the issue of promotions at MTIs.



“The K-P chief secretary was pleased to constitute the committee comprising special secretary health, additional secretary finance department, additional secretary establishment department and chief executive officer of the Post Graduate Medical Institute (PGMI) Peshawar,” the notification had read.

According to the notification, the committee will be looking into each and every appointment and promotion carried out in MTIs over the past three years in accordance with the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) rules, service and general rules, credentials of candidates and certify that each appointment and promotion was based on merit.

MTIs have faced immense resistance, especially from those working within the health industry. Earlier in 2015, a larger bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) had dismissed a number of constitutional petitions challenging K-P MTI Reforms Act 2015 after the law was declared to be in accordance with the Constitution.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 1^st, 2018.