Dysfunctional trauma centre to get ‘underqualified’ head
Appointment of a 'favoured' candidate as trauma centre's executive director will be discussed today
The government first attempted to forward a summary proposing the appointment of Dr Yasmeen Kharal to the chief secretary, the sources said. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI:
With its massive Rs6 billion price tag, the Benazir Bhutto Accident and Emergency Trauma Centre (BBAETC) was positioned as one of the Pakistan Peoples Party-led Sindh government's flagship health projects.
Some fours year after being inaugurated, the facility is still not fully functional. And if that alone were not enough proof of mismanagement, the centre's staff now fears they may be stuck with an underqualified head appointed on basis of nepotism.
When the Sindh Assembly passed a bill making BBAETC independent from Civil Hospital Karachi in February this year, it also outlined comprehensive criteria for the centre's vacant executive director post. To be considered for the post, candidates had to possess professional qualifications in trauma, vascular and orthopedic surgeries in addition to postgraduate degrees.
According to BBAETC sources, however, the provincial government appears to have resolved to appoint an underqualified doctor, who recently retired from Civil Hospital's gynecological faculty, as the centre's executive director.
The government first attempted to forward a summary proposing the appointment of Dr Yasmeen Kharal to the chief secretary, the sources said.
But after the latter turned it down citing Supreme Court orders against the appointment of a retired government official to the post, the Sindh government included discussion on Dr Kharal's in the agenda of the cabinet session scheduled for today (Saturday). A copy of this agenda is available with The Express Tribune and clearly shows Dr Kharal is listed in item five.
This would be the first time that the appointment of a particular candidate to a key post of a public healthcare institution would be discussed in a provincial cabinet session, bypassing the regular Sindh government recruitment process.
Before her retirement in June this year, Dr Kharal worked as the assistant medical superintendent at Civil Hospital. According to sources, she set her sights on the top trauma centre post immediately retirement and started manipulating her political connections in order to secure it.
Alarmed by the Sindh government's irregularity, several doctors and healthcare officials have requested the Supreme Court, the National Accountability Bureau and the Federal Investigation Agency to take notice of Dr Kharal's attempted appointment as BBAETC executive director and to ensure the top slot is filled on merit.
The Express Tribune tried reaching out to both the Sindh chief secretary and Dr Kharal herself but neither were available to comment on the matter.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 24th, 2019.
With its massive Rs6 billion price tag, the Benazir Bhutto Accident and Emergency Trauma Centre (BBAETC) was positioned as one of the Pakistan Peoples Party-led Sindh government's flagship health projects.
Some fours year after being inaugurated, the facility is still not fully functional. And if that alone were not enough proof of mismanagement, the centre's staff now fears they may be stuck with an underqualified head appointed on basis of nepotism.
When the Sindh Assembly passed a bill making BBAETC independent from Civil Hospital Karachi in February this year, it also outlined comprehensive criteria for the centre's vacant executive director post. To be considered for the post, candidates had to possess professional qualifications in trauma, vascular and orthopedic surgeries in addition to postgraduate degrees.
According to BBAETC sources, however, the provincial government appears to have resolved to appoint an underqualified doctor, who recently retired from Civil Hospital's gynecological faculty, as the centre's executive director.
The government first attempted to forward a summary proposing the appointment of Dr Yasmeen Kharal to the chief secretary, the sources said.
But after the latter turned it down citing Supreme Court orders against the appointment of a retired government official to the post, the Sindh government included discussion on Dr Kharal's in the agenda of the cabinet session scheduled for today (Saturday). A copy of this agenda is available with The Express Tribune and clearly shows Dr Kharal is listed in item five.
This would be the first time that the appointment of a particular candidate to a key post of a public healthcare institution would be discussed in a provincial cabinet session, bypassing the regular Sindh government recruitment process.
Before her retirement in June this year, Dr Kharal worked as the assistant medical superintendent at Civil Hospital. According to sources, she set her sights on the top trauma centre post immediately retirement and started manipulating her political connections in order to secure it.
Alarmed by the Sindh government's irregularity, several doctors and healthcare officials have requested the Supreme Court, the National Accountability Bureau and the Federal Investigation Agency to take notice of Dr Kharal's attempted appointment as BBAETC executive director and to ensure the top slot is filled on merit.
The Express Tribune tried reaching out to both the Sindh chief secretary and Dr Kharal herself but neither were available to comment on the matter.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 24th, 2019.