The decision came in light of a summary dated June 17, 2019, submitted by the National Services Regulation Division, regarding the transfer of administrative control of the port city's three major hospitals.
"The federal government has decided to transfer the control of the hospitals to respective provinces with their mutual consent. A report in this regard, with full justification, including current financial constraints of the federal government, will be submitted by National Health Services Regulation division before the Supreme Court, in order to avoid any adverse order of the honorable court," read the minutes of the federal cabinet.
The debacle
The control of the hospitals was initially transferred to the Sindh government under the 18th Amendment, which declared health a provincial subject, in 2010. However, the employees of the healthcare facilities had challenged this development in the Sindh High Court (SHC), which ordered to hand back the control of the hospitals to the Centre, in July 2016.
Claiming to have invested millions in the development of NICH, NICVD and JPMC, the Sindh government challenged the high court's decision in the apex court, which wrapped up the dispute upholding SHC's decision, in January this year. Following the Supreme Court's decision, the federal government issued a notification claiming its control over the hospitals, in May 2019. The provincial government had objected this move and maintained that the Centre was taking control of the hospitals without waiting for the decision on Sindh government's review petition in the apex court.
Budget allocations
Though the federal government welcomed the apex court's decision to retain Centre's control over the hospitals, ironically, it did not allocate a single penny to the healthcare facilities in the budget for the fiscal year 2019-20. However, the Sindh government earmarked Rs15 billion for the disputed hospitals in the provincial budget, presented earlier this year.
During the budget speech, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had said that the Sindh government has made significant investment in the three healthcare facilities, adding that the provincial government would not give up its right on the hospitals.
"I would like to give you the example of NICVD," said CM Shah in his budget speech. "When the federal government handed it over to us after the 18th Amendment, between 2011 and 2012, funds allocated to the hospital merely amounted to Rs355 million. In comparison, we appropriated Rs8.8 billion to for it in the budget for the year 2018-19," he added.
Claiming victory
Meanwhile, reacting to the decision, Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister on Information, Law and Anti-Corruption Barrister Murtaza Wahab too underlined the provincial government's investment in the three hospitals. The Sindh government had investment billions of rupees for improving JPMC, NICVD and NICH, after these were handed over to the provincial government under the 18th Amendment and the expansion of NICVD to other cities in the province is an evidence of the provincial government's exemplary performance, he said.
"Sindh government has been providing state-of-the-art health facilities to people from every corner of the country without any charges," he said, adding that the PTI-led government has not been able to live up to its tall claims. The information adviser criticised the federal government for its "arrogance" and claimed that the Sindh government was spending more than Rs16 billion on NICVD, NICH and JPMC, annually, to ensure free-of-cost treatment for poor patients from across Pakistan.
He further said that the Sindh government had repeatedly stated that the Centre didn't have the capacity to run these hospitals, adding that the decision to hand back the control of the hospitals to the provincial government is an acknowledgement of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's stance. It is the victory of the people of Sindh and of poor patients across Pakistan, said Wahab.
Wahab also congratulated the people of Sindh for not letting anyone snatch away their rightful assets.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 7th, 2019.
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