Though the building looks magnificent, it lacks faculty and other facilities to meet the criteria set by PMDC. PHOTO: FILE
The sorry state of the Federal Medical and Dental College (FMDC) has finally caught the attention of a parliamentarian who said that a summary has been forwarded to the finance ministry for release of funds. It could not come any sooner, as the college is almost penniless.
“We have moved a summary to the finance ministry for the release of Rs200 million to the college,” said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sheikh Aftab Ahmed while responding to a call attention notice raised by some members of the ruling party in the National Assembly on Thursday.
The minister also urged Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi to give a ruling for immediate release of the requisite funds for the college, saying, “I am not sure whether the finance ministry will entertain my request for immediate release of the funds”.
The Pakistan Medical and Dental College (PMDC), the highest regulatory body of medical profession, has already issued a notice to the FMDC asking it to stop offering further admissions as it has failed to meet the regulator’s criteria.
A group of members belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) through a call attention notice raised the issue saying the FMDC was facing a virtual closure due to paucity of funds despite the fact that admissions to its third year batch have already been offered.
“I agree with what has been pointed out through the call attention notice,” the minister said before blaming the previous Pakistan People’s Party government for the sorry state of affairs at the college. “The college was set up in 2012 by the previous government and it should have released the funds,” he said.
The minister said he did not know, until now, that funds had not been released to the college.
Responding to a question from PML-N member Khalida Mansoor, the minister said that the faculty at the college was incomplete and lower staff had also not been hired. “Maybe the competitive salaries at private medical institutions are behind FMDC’s failure to attract and engage teaching faculty and other staff,” Ahmed opined.
When Nighat Parveen Mir of the PML-N asked for increased funding for the college, Aftab assured the lower house that appropriate steps would be taken so that the college did not face a similar episode in future. “I will direct the Cabinet Secretariat to prepare a comprehensive report on the college’s expenses,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 20th, 2013.
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