Karachi hospitals’ staff hail apex court decision, students not so sure
Thousands of medical students face uncertain future after hospitals handed over to federal government
PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI:
As the management and staff of three of Sindh's largest healthcare facilties celebrated the Supreme Court's decision to hand over their administrative and operation control to the Centre, the provincial government was at a loss regarding the fate of the Jinnah Sindh Medical University (JSMU).
A day after the Supreme Court rejected the Sindh government's appeals to wrest control of the three healthcare facilities - the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) and the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) — their employees danced and distributed sweets to celebrate the decision.
Faisal Choudhry, a union leader at the NICH, expressed the hope that finally, the hundreds of positions that had been lying vacant would be filled. He added that the federal government would be able to run the facility better than the Sindh government, adding that, "hopefully, our dues will also be cleared".
Control of three main Karachi hospitals to remain with Centre, rules SC
State of confusion
Meanwhile, the decision has put the future of hundreds of students of the Jinnah Sindh Medical University in jeopardy, after its affiliated JPMC will be returned to the federal government after seven and a half years. The university will hence be deprived of its teaching hospital.
As a consequence, the academic future of around 10,000 medical students of the around 10 private medical colleges affiliated with the varsity, besides its own students, has become uncertain.
In addition to this, the renewal of the JSMU's registration from the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council could also be at risk in case the provincial government fails to make arrangements for it to be affiliated with another teaching hospital.
According to PMDC's rules, it recognises only those universities that generate the salaries of their faculty members independently.
SHC orders immediate release of funds
Background
Several years ago, the provincial government had ended the affiliation of all medical and dental colleges in the city from University of Karachi (KU) and handed them over to the JSMU.
This step was taken after KU's failure to establish its own teaching hospital, which hasn't been established to date. In accordance with 18th Constitutional Amendment, the JPMC, NICVD and the NICH, which had been running under the federal government, were handed over to the Government of Sindh in June 2011. All three hospitals worked under the administrative control of the Government of Sindh during these past eight years and will now be returned to the Centre after the concise order of the Supreme Court.
Earlier, employees of all three medical facilities that were handed over to the Sindh Government had filed pleas in Sindh High Court (SHC) in 2011, requesting for the hospitals to be returned to the administrative control of the federal government.
In 2016, the SHC had issued an order to return the hospitals to the federal government. Subsequently, the Sindh Government of Sindh had obtained a stay order against the SHC order from the Supreme Court. On Wednesday, however, the Supreme Court finally announced its verdict in the appeals, handing over all three hospitals to the Centre.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 18th, 2019.
As the management and staff of three of Sindh's largest healthcare facilties celebrated the Supreme Court's decision to hand over their administrative and operation control to the Centre, the provincial government was at a loss regarding the fate of the Jinnah Sindh Medical University (JSMU).
A day after the Supreme Court rejected the Sindh government's appeals to wrest control of the three healthcare facilities - the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) and the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) — their employees danced and distributed sweets to celebrate the decision.
Faisal Choudhry, a union leader at the NICH, expressed the hope that finally, the hundreds of positions that had been lying vacant would be filled. He added that the federal government would be able to run the facility better than the Sindh government, adding that, "hopefully, our dues will also be cleared".
Control of three main Karachi hospitals to remain with Centre, rules SC
State of confusion
Meanwhile, the decision has put the future of hundreds of students of the Jinnah Sindh Medical University in jeopardy, after its affiliated JPMC will be returned to the federal government after seven and a half years. The university will hence be deprived of its teaching hospital.
As a consequence, the academic future of around 10,000 medical students of the around 10 private medical colleges affiliated with the varsity, besides its own students, has become uncertain.
In addition to this, the renewal of the JSMU's registration from the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council could also be at risk in case the provincial government fails to make arrangements for it to be affiliated with another teaching hospital.
According to PMDC's rules, it recognises only those universities that generate the salaries of their faculty members independently.
SHC orders immediate release of funds
Background
Several years ago, the provincial government had ended the affiliation of all medical and dental colleges in the city from University of Karachi (KU) and handed them over to the JSMU.
This step was taken after KU's failure to establish its own teaching hospital, which hasn't been established to date. In accordance with 18th Constitutional Amendment, the JPMC, NICVD and the NICH, which had been running under the federal government, were handed over to the Government of Sindh in June 2011. All three hospitals worked under the administrative control of the Government of Sindh during these past eight years and will now be returned to the Centre after the concise order of the Supreme Court.
Earlier, employees of all three medical facilities that were handed over to the Sindh Government had filed pleas in Sindh High Court (SHC) in 2011, requesting for the hospitals to be returned to the administrative control of the federal government.
In 2016, the SHC had issued an order to return the hospitals to the federal government. Subsequently, the Sindh Government of Sindh had obtained a stay order against the SHC order from the Supreme Court. On Wednesday, however, the Supreme Court finally announced its verdict in the appeals, handing over all three hospitals to the Centre.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 18th, 2019.