ISLAMABAD, Jan 28: The Ministry of Regulations and Services, on Monday, appointed a three-member committee to probe the controversial registration of 19 medical colleges, in one day.

A retired judge will head the committee. An official at the ministry said: “The ministry has appointed Justice (retired) Shabbar Raza Razvi, a joint secretary of the ministry and a nominee of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC) to probe the registration of 19 medical colleges.”

According to official documents, the medical colleges were given No Objection Certificate (NOC) in December, 2012 by PM&DC, which falls under the purview of the ministry. Due to the unprecedented and record registration of medical colleges, the Registrar PM&DC lost his job.

The newly appointed Registrar at the PM&DC, Dr Raja Amjad Mehmood said: “We will be assisting the probe committee without any bias and will provide all the record to the committee for a transparent probe and will ensure that responsibility is fixed against those who have tried to downplay the role of the council.”

Meanwhile, the head of departments of the PM&DC and officers welcomed the new appointment of Registrar and also reposed full confidence in the executive council members.

Dr Mehmood has taken over the position of Registrar at the PM&DC, after the suspension of Dr Nadeem Akbar over the controversial registration process of medical and dental colleges.

A resolution was adopted by all the heads of department at PM&DC in favour of Registrar Dr Mehmood, vice president Dr Asim Hussain, President Dr Sibtul Hassanain and the executive committee.

The 19 medical colleges which were registered by the PM&DC belong to Punjab, Balochistan, Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK), Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK).