New medical colleges, additional seats ‘illegal’

PMDC will not issue licences to anyone admitted on the 'unrecognised seats' to practice medicine in the country.

LAHORE: The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has termed the provincial government’s decision to establish four new medical colleges and to increase by 942 the number of new students to be admitted as illegal.

The PMDC last month wrote a letter warning the Health Department that the new colleges and additional seats were not recognised by the PMDC. The letter stated that if the department advertised for the additional seats the PMDC would take it to the court.

“The PMDC will very soon publish advertisements in the media to inform the stakeholders including students that the seats are unrecognised,” Dr Ahmad Nadeem Akbar, the PMDC registrar told The Express Tribune on Sunday.

He said that the PMDC would not issue licences to anyone admitted on the unrecognised seats to practice medicine in the country.

The provincial government earlier this year announced the establishment of four new medical colleges with 100 seats each. These colleges are under-construction in Sialkot, Gujranwala, Dera Ghazi Khan and Sahiwal, respectively.

Besides, it increased the number of seats in 11 existing public medical colleges by 542, increasing the seats for the MBBS 2010-11 session to 3,205, from 2,263 in 2009.

A University of Health Sciences spokesperson told the Tribune that its 2010-11 prospectuses included the 942 additional seats. He said that admission forms and the prospectus would be available for students from Monday at the UHS centre in Lahore, Rawalpindi Medical College in Rawalpindi, and Shaikh Zayed Medical College in Rahim Yar Khan.

He said that the provincial government’s decision to increase seats was taken in the wider public interest. He said that the UHS was bound to follow provincial government’s policy.

The PMDC registrar said that the new colleges and seats were added in clear violation of the council’s rules and regulations.

He said that Regulation No 75 of the PMDC regulations of 2008 stated, “The medical seats in the colleges could be increased only by the PMDC”.  He added that the PMDC in its 116th meeting on May 8, 2010, imposed a ban on approval of new medical colleges up till December 2012. He said that the PMDC would take legal action against the government if it would included the 942 additional seats in the 2010-11 prospectus.

Dr Akbar said that it would also be considered a violation of the Para 279 of a Supreme Court verdict (PLD 2007 SC 323) and of another apex court judgment in Nadir Khan case.

He said that the SC judgements stated that the provincial governments could not allocate MBBS seats or establish new medical colleges without the PMDC’s permission.

He warned that the PMDC could initiate criminal cases against the faculty of such colleges.

He said that the students getting admission on unrecognised seats would not be registered by the PMDC.

Sections 11 and 18 of the PMDC Ordinance of 1962, he said, detailed guidelines for the recognition of undergraduate medical and dental colleges across the country.

Under these guidelines, he said, the provincial governments need first to apply to the PMDC for its permission to set up new colleges and add seats to the existing colleges.  He said that after passing through eight stages of the application process, the federal government issues a notification permitting a provincial government to set up colleges or add seats in an existing college.

The health secretary was not available for his comments.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2010.