LAHORE: The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (MNHSRC) has declared the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council’s (PMDC) current executive committee, the president and the vice president illegal.
MNHSRC Deputy Director Taj Wali Khan submitted a report on January 6 in the National Assembly that said “the federal government has not notified the PMDC executive committee including their president and vice president.”
Khan said the PMDC was an autonomous body governed by its own rules and regulations and the federal government would accept the legitimate and lawful officials.
“All officers/officials involved in any illegal act will have to face legal proceedings under the rules of the organisation,” said the report prepared after MNA Nasir Khan Khattak raised questions about the PMDC’s current executive body.
A report prepared by the Auditor General of Pakistan had also found Rs920 million embezzlement in the affairs of the PMDC in the last five years.
Young Doctors Association (YDA) Punjab asked the federal government at a press conference on Wednesday to immediately nominate an interim setup at the PMDC and hold transparent elections.
“It has been established now that the current PMDC body is illegal so no time should be wasted in holding fresh elections,” Amir Bandesha of the YDA said.
Dr Shabbir Chaudhry of the YDA said the acting body of the PMDC on August 5, 2013, held PMDC elections in violation of the court directions.
“Those in the acting body also contested the elections. We went against this in court… the court ruled in our favour.”
He said the ministry had now also submitted that it had not notified the elected members and “the election was not held all over the country and was illegal.”
Bandesha said that the illegal body was playing havoc with the medical education in Pakistan. “It has increased seats at three private medical colleges from 100 to 150. It also increased seats of Akhter Saeed Medical College from 100 to 150 but the University of Health Sciences (UHS) refused to register the new students this year.”
He said the registration of many courses by the College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPSP) had not been renewed for 10 months.
“Registration cases of many doctors, especially young doctors are pending because they stood against the PMDC mafia.
We want the federal government to immediately take note of this situation and declare these acts null and void,” Bandesha said.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2014.