PMDC staff ‘coerced’ to cover up wrongdoing

Many have taken unsanctioned leave after receiving threats, one allegedly died due to the stress.

ISLAMABAD:

Chaos and dysfunction ensued among employees of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) after some of its influential officials and the owners of affiliated medical institutions started coercing and harassing employees and junior staff to undertake illegal practices.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, a group of PMDC employees requesting anonymity claimed that a certain group of council officials along with owners of some medical colleges are forcing them to either work for the latter’s personal interests or be brought up to face the executive committee on falsified charges.

These threats have forged fears of transfer, suspension and termination among PMDC employees. As a result, many of them have left on unsanctioned leave from the office to avoid the situation and operations at the council have dwindled. Moreover, an employee informed that one of the legal officers died due to brain haemorrhage, which he claimed was due to pressure from the top to give legal cover to some malpractices. Another lamented, “I didn’t get my salary for the last two months — my only crime was that I refused to obey my bosses when they asked me to do something in gross violation of PMDC rules.”

Similarly, Juma Muhammad Mandokhail, media consultant at PMDC, claimed that he was one of the biggest victims of harassment and coercion. “As an administration officer, I was forced to legalise and endorse many malpractices. I continued my efforts for the supremacy of ‘law above all’, telling them I would never do anything based on verbal orders without the relevant proof and documentation, as I knew they were targeting one person against whom there was no solid proof of forgery or corruption.” After being forced to withdraw his FIR against the former registrar, Dr Ahmad Nadeem Akbar, he was punished in the form of a transfer to Karachi, where no post for a media consultant exists, making his post redundant and jeopardising his employment.

Mandokhail explained that Dr Akbar came back to PMDC to after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered his restoration, but Dr Raja Amjad Mehmood, Dr Shaista Faisal and some others stopped him from taking office.

Moreover, the top management has refused to accept court orders and advertised a registrar post illegally without the media consultant’s counsel, despite it being his responsibility to issue such ads.” They have taken all the official records into their custody to forge records”, he added.

PMDC Registrar Dr Amjad Mahmood denied the allegations, adding that none of the employees is being pressurised to do any illegal work.”None of the employee has come to me or lodged a complaint that he or she has been forced to do any illegal work,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th, 2013.