KARACHI June 3: The Sindh government decision to upgrade the status of the Sindh Medical College (SMC) to the level of a medical university has raised concern among faculty members and other staffers of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC).

At a meeting, the heads of departments, members of the academic council and senior nursing staff on Saturday said that the government, instead of considering the longstanding demand of JPMC — the mother of all postgraduate institutions — accorded the university status to a college consisting only six basic science departments.

The meeting regretted that the JPMC’s longstanding demand of its elevation to a federal university, proposed to be named after the Quaid-i-Azam, had once again been ignored.

The JPMC is an institution to which the father of the nation lent his name in his life time.

“We express strong reservation that instead of making the JPMC a university, the SMC has been elevated to the status of university,” said a communication of the hospital, which has been the teaching hospital of the SMC when it (college) was affiliated with the University of Karachi and later become a constituent part of the Dow University of Health Science through a Sindh government ordinance about 10 years ago.

The meeting reiterated the demand that the status of the JPMC was elevated to that of a federal university soon. It was observed that little is known about the teaching faculty and hosp-ital of the proposed Sindh Med-ical University, admissions schedule and institutions it will manage in the future.

The ordinance regarding the SMC upgrade was signed by Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad at the Bilawal House on Friday in the presence of President Asif Ali Zardari.

Referring to some statements by a senior JPMC doctor, who is being named as the first vice-chancellor of the university, some JPMC staffers confided to Dawn that how the devolved federal government medical institutions could be made part of the university in the offing, particularly at a time when the teaching and other staffs were already moved court against the handing over of their services to the provincial government.

Some students of the Sindh Medical College also expressed their concern over their present status.

“Whether we will be allowed to complete our medical education under the DUHS and given its degree or be handed over to SMU abruptly,” they questioned.

PMA welcomes ordinance

The Pakistan Medical Association, Sindh chapter, on Sunday welcomed the promulgation of the ordinance upgrading the Sindh Medical College to the status of a university, adds APP. In a statement, it felicitated the SMC Alumni-Pakistan, and SMC International Alumni-North America which spearheaded a struggle in this regard.

It also congratulated Prof Tariq Rafi on being named the first vice chancellor of the Sindh Medical University and assured him of full support in developing the university into an outstanding institution.