Sindh Assembly rejects MDCAT results

The Sindh Assembly rejected on Tuesday the results of the controversial medical entry tests conducted by the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) for future doctors and demanded that the federal government direct the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) not to meddle in Sindh’s domain or hold such tests in future.

During the heated debate that broke out over Pakistan Peoples Party MPA Syeda Marvi Faseeh’s adjournment motion, the opposition lawmakers, except the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) joined the government and criticised the federal government for playing with the future of thousands of people living in Sindh. “Candidates from all four provinces are on the streets staging protest against discrepancies in the medical and dental college admission (MDCAT) test.

The Sindh Assembly members pointed out that the questions were out of the syllabus, and added that in such a situation, how could the aspiring doctors qualify the test when they had never ever studied the books in their respective provinces,” Faseeh said.

“The entire test was conducted from the federal board and results were announced twice with major errors in the exercise,” lamented Faseeh.

Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho while giving a policy statement on the issue said that they have also approached the court against the establishment of the Pakistan Medical Commission because after the passage of the 18th Amendment education is solely a provincial subject. “This seems to be an attempt to sabotage provincial authority enshrined in the constitution,” she remarked.

The health minister also referred to the injustice done with the MDCAT candidates in Punjab, KP and Balochistan. She said, “I have conveyed to the chief minister that we tend to make our own body to conduct test for those wanting to join the medical field.” She added that there was a severe shortage of doctors in the province and the Sindh government would ensure meritocracy while conducting the test for medical students in future.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Hussain of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan endorsing the adjournment motion said that it was a genuine issue and the medical test must be conducted under provincial policy or from a uniformed syllabus to be prepared with the consultation of all the provinces. “The massive fraud has negated the entire exercise, and we reject the medical test conducted for MBBS and BDS,” he concluded.

Similarly, Grand Democratic Alliance MPA, Nand Kumar Goklani said that although his party is a coalition partner of the PTI in the federal government, they would support the PPP on this matter in the interest of Sindh. “Any decision against Sindh will not be tolerated,” he said.

Goklani asked the federal government and the prime minister to resolve this issue and provide justice to protesting candidates. Nusrat Seher Abbasi of the GDA suggested that the Sindh chief minister should write a protest letter to the federal authorities on this issue.

Taking a jibe at the premier, former chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah in his address took strong exception to what he said was the incompetency of the federal government in the running of the country and said: “The Imran Khan-led government considers everything a cricket match. They have played the game with the support of certain quarters, but from now onwards, we will not let them continue with their game,” he remarked.

However, PTI MPA Sirda Imran rejecting the adjournment motion held the candidates responsible and said, “The syllabus is still available on the PMC website. Those who could not get good marks must improve their competency,” she said, adding that Sindh has a poor education system, which was why students failed to compete. “The schools in Sindh are no more than cattle farms. How can the quality of education improve,” she said in criticism of the PPP government.

PPP lawmaker Imdad Pitafi’s speech further irked the PTI lawmkaers. Instead of focusing on the medical entry tests, Pitafi called the federal government and its members “Cheeni chor, aatta chor [sugar thief, flour thief].” He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan should fulfill his pledge of turning Pakistan into ‘Riyasat-e-Madina’ and said, “He has now deviated from his original plan of such a state and wants to introduce a model of government similar to the ones prevalent in China and Iran.” He went on to say, “This is not possible.”

Chaos ensued at these remarks, with the PTI lawmakers standing on their seats and calling for the speaker to expunge the non-parliamentary words used by Pitafi against the prime minister.

Benazir Mazdoor Card

During the session, Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani informed the lawmakers that the provincial government would soon be launching the Benazir Mazdoor Card for labourers in Sindh. During the question answer session of the assembly he said, “Initially, 625,000 mazdoors will get benefit from it,” adding that these card would be issued to all formal and informal labourers. “Under this scheme, the health and education of labourers and their families would be covered. The minister said that the card would have a microchip to minimise the chance of corruption.

Ghani further apprised that the provincial government has almost finished the labourers’ registration process with the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). The first batch will be issued next week, he claimed.

Earlier, Sindh Irrigation Minister Anwar Sohail Siyal alleged that National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had victimised him and his family by conducting raids at his house. “The NAB officials are acting on behalf of PTI government,” he said.

During the session, the MPAs of both the treasury and opposition benches also raised public interest issues with their call attention notices - PTI’s Jamal Siddiqui inquired of the investigation progress on the recent rape incident in Khairpur and PPP’s Imtiaz Shaikh also condemned the rape and murder of the minor girl. Shaikh added that some suspects have been arrested.

Meanwhile, in response to PTI MPA Dr Seema Zia’s motion about the dilapidated condition of Keamari Road in SITE Industrial area, Sindh Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah said that these schemes have been added to the annual development plan. He, however, passed the buck onto the PTI-led federal government, blaming it for not releasing funds for Sindh’s share, which according to him, has also hindered development work in the province.

Later, the speaker adjourned the session till today (Thursday).

Published in The Express Tribune, January 14^th, 2021.