“The fate of the PMDC election should not placed in the ministry’s hands,” says senator. PHOTO: pmdc.org.pk
ISLAMABAD:
The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has moved the Islamabad High Court against the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (NHSRC) over its long delay in issuing notifications for the appointment of 10 new council members and the nominations of six new ones.
The NHSRC Standing Committee, which met on Tuesday at the Parliament House under the chairmanship of Senator Rafique Rajwana, expressed serious reservations over the matter and said the delay in issuing the notifications was a blatant attempt at sabotaging the election process.
The committee also declared a four-member inquiry committee constituted by NHSRC on September 6 to probe the PMDC elections null and void, citing that the council is an autonomous body.
Senator Haseeb Khan said top NHSRC officials are bent on replacing the 16 members with their own personal favourites and were deliberately causing inordinate delays. He asked the committee to take strict notice over the absence of the ministry’s high officials at the meeting.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa MNA Dr Azhar Jadoon said NHSRC State Minister Saira Tarar is new and is being misguided by some officials.
“The fate of the PMDC election should not placed in the ministry’s hands,” he said.
The committee also discussed other issues on the shortage of medical faculty in Pakistan and foreign medical graduates.
PMDC Registrar Dr Amjad Mahmood informed the committee that approximately 17,000 new medical staffers are needed as the council is currently below capacity at 11,000. PMDC President Prof Dr Hameed Khan suggested that medical colleges need to start producing more post-graduates to overcome this shortage.
Meanwhile, the committee was informed that 4,696 foreign graduates and 3,288 post-graduates have been registered with PMDC since 2000.
Committee members expressed concern over students who, despite spending over Rs3.5million each at institutions in China, Russia, Korea and Malaysia, still failed PMDC exams upon returning to Pakistan.
They claimed there are sub-standard medical colleges in these countries that are looting Pakistani students.
“Many students have been sitting at home with their futures at stake for the past six years,” said Senator Dr Karim Khawaja. Responding to this, the committee’s chairman directed PMDC to formulate a policy under which all the foreign graduates would be enrolled in short courses to qualify and prepare for the PMDC exams.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 11th, 2013.
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The State Minister Respected Saria Afazal Tarar decision of PMDC are highly appreciated to look in to irregularities and is not misguided by any one She is fair lady as she has not favoured Dr azhar Jadoon whose College admission been stopped by PMDC due to no faculty and hospital playing with Medical education in Hazara giving such statements ..PT I KPK also check its members colleges and ask to rectify these colleges run by two memberswhich have neither staff nor hospital one in Abbottabad and other in Peshawar . The PMDC must hold fair election and if they have majority in doctors community then why been afraid of re election and new council.