Medical university languishes in desolation

The newly built campus of Peoples University of Medical and Health Sciences for Women (PUMHSW) in Nawabshah, has remained deprived of the most fundamental of amenities for some seven odd years.

The varsity, situated in the heart of the Shaheed Benazirabad District, the home constituency of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leadership, to date lacks access to drinking water, hygiene, sui gas, proper teaching staff, transport, infrastructure and other basic facilities.

Covert interviews with PUMHSW’s students and teachers painted a ghastly picture of complete administrative anarchy on campus, which those tied to the institution believe has been going against the very purpose of the medical university.

“For the last two years, there has been no permanent vice-chancellor to look after the administrative affairs of the public varsity. A retired professor of surgery has been given the charge of the coveted post since April 2019. Apart from this, most of the administrative positions are occupied by the influential political figures who afford no sincerity to the institution’s cause,” revealed one faculty member on the condition of anonymity.

It is however to be noted that People’s University’s issue is not one that stems from lack of budget or stifling finances, but rather the lack of interest of those who sit at the helm of the institution’s fate. “Surprisingly, PUMHSW is actually one of the top funded universities in terms of budget,” commented the faculty member, adding that lack of sincere utilisation of the handsome budget is what’s been the university’s bane all along.

All the five departments of the university accommodate a total of 2,000 students with more than 100 faculty members and 150 staff- all of whom have no access to potable water on campus.

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“Underground water is salty and is not fit for human consumption. The water supply scheme is partially functional as people responsible for running it mostly remain absent from duty. Many students are suffering from dandruff, hair loss, skin and other diseases because of it,” said Rukhsana Saleem, a second year student of physiotherapy. “Almost all the students buy bottled water for drinking purposes and use underground salty water for kitchen, washing clothes and bathing etc.” she added.

The student’s claims appear to be backed by water and soil tests conducted by another university. They revealed the physico-chemical parameters of water samples from the area to be above the permissible limit prescribed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and WHO water quality standards.

According to a senior professor of the university, in addition to chemical contamination, the report also warned of huge populations of Escherichia Coli to be present in the waters. “It is one of the most frequent causes of many common bacterial infections including cholecystitis, bacteremia, cholangitis, urinary tract infection (UTI), and traveler’s diarrhea, and other clinical infections such as neonatal meningitis and pneumonia,” he explained.

Water report. PHOTO: Hafeez Tunio

A fourth-year pharmacy student who wished not to be named revealed that the campus does not even have access to Sui Gas, and like the hostels, the university’s labs are also reliant on unsafe LPG cylinders.

On the matter of administrative affairs, an official privy to the case alleged that the position of acting vice chancellor (VC) should last three months or so, but incumbent VC Professor Dr Gulshan Memon has almost finished two years on the position. Despite many attempts, contact with the acting vice chancellor of PUMHSW could not be ascertained. However, Pro-vice chancellor of the university Professor Dr Saleh was of the opinion that the campus is still new, and the problems would be resolved with the passage of time.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2021.