Provincial administration does not seem to be least interested in saving the future of medical students
KHAIRPUR MIRS: Students, teachers and administrative staff of Khairpur Medical College (KMC), dissatisfied with the provincial government, have staged multiple protests for the recognition of their college by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC).
The college has been functioning for five years, yet it is struggling to get PMDC recognition. Without PMDC recognition, students, who have now reached their final year, will not receive their MBBS degrees. The provincial administration does not seem to be least interested in saving the future of these young medical students.
Teachers have extended their support to the students. They have resigned from their posts en mass and have boycotted the OPDs so that the issue can be raised at the highest level of the provincial administration. But their pleas have so far fallen on deaf ears.
A delegation of teachers met Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah a few months ago to get the issue resolved. He assured the delegation that the PMDC requirements would be fulfilled. These would include regularisation of staff, hiring of some new faculty, purchase of equipment for the KMC-affiliated hospital like MRI machine and release of funds for the construction of building infrastructure, etc. However, the promises remain unfulfilled. The Sindh government allocated only a small sum to the university.
Former Sindh chief minister Qaim Ali Shah had laid the foundation of the college. It started enrolling students without ensuring that the college met the required standards. Certain quarters claim he did so for his own political motives. He is seemingly evading the issue despite being close to the PPP top hierarchy. Would he risk the future of his own children like this?
I urge the Sindh chief minister to help resolve the issue of the college’s recognition by the PMDC.
Saddam Hussain Samo
Published in The Express Tribune, August 3rd, 2019.
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