ISLAMABAD: The controversial executive council of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), the apex accreditation body for medical professionals in the country, was dissolved through a presidential ordinance on Friday.

The PMDC is a statutory regulatory authority, established under the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council Ordinance, 1962. It is known worldwide and no Pakistani doctor can practise in Pakistan or abroad without being registered with it.

This measure does not affect employees or members of the PMDC, who will continue their functions as per routine.

NHS minister says move not linked to Dr Asim Hussain’s arrest

Minister for National Health Services (NHS) Saira Afzal Tarar said that the measure was taken on the directions of the Supreme Court which, she said, had advised the government to come up with a new law in two days.

“The law had already been formulated and we were waiting for the appropriate time to implement it. The council was dissolved on the basis of court orders, but I can assure you that the most suitable, non-controversial and competent individuals would be nominated to the new management committee,” Ms Tarar told Dawn on Friday night.

“Since a presidential ordinance is valid for a limited time (120 days), we will make all efforts to address the issue on a permanent basis by passing a bill through parliament,” she said.

The ministry’s official statement said that the president had promulgated the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015, on Friday and consequently the PMDC executive council stood dissolved.

According to the statement, a new council shall be elected within 120 days through fair and transparent elections. 

On Monday, the NHS minister is expected to hold a press conference with the new management committee entrusted with the task of holding elections.

The new management committee includes retired Maj Gen Azhar Kiyani, Prof Abid Farooqui, Prof Nadeem Rizvi and one representative each from the law and finance ministries.

Irregularities

Young Doctors Association Punjab’s spokesperson Dr Amir Bandesha told Dawn that although the decision was appreciated, the ministry should ensure that the same medical colleges or individuals who had been mismanaging the council’s affairs for the last decade should not be re-elected.

“Those who have destroyed the PMDC should be banned for life and specific tenures should be awarded for representatives; they should not be elected again and again. Elections should be held within 120 days and the new executive committee should only look after day-to-day affairs instead of opening new colleges and taking administrative decisions,” he said.

According to Dr Bandesha, the PMDC had not been audited since 1962. However, in 2013 the auditor general of Pakistan found embezzlements to the tune of Rs 900 million within the council.

“Because PPP’s Khursheed Ahmed Shah was heading the Public Accounts Committee at the time and the audit was to do with the PPP’s time in power, no progress was observed and, in the end, it was recommended that audit be carried out again,” he said.

Following continuous allegations of embezzlements in the registration of private colleges, in 2013 a commission headed by former Lahore High Court judge Shabbar Raza Rizvi was constituted to look into the matter. The commission recommended closing 11 out of 19 medical colleges because they were established without meeting the basic requirements.

Bad blood

The health ministry had been at odds with the PMDC for over two years now. Due to the political affiliations of several members of the executive council, there was an impression that the body was very close to the PPP and had deliberately locked horns with the ministry.

Both sides levelled several allegations against each other during standing committee meetings at Parliament House. In fact, the PMDC executive council was last dissolved through a similar ordinance in March 2014 and an interim council, headed by Dr Ghayas Butt, was installed to look after the council’s affairs. However, after the ordinance expired, the old council was restored because the government could not get the proposed law past the Senate.

In Supreme Court, Chief Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja was appalled by the way the government was ignoring the problems at PMDC. Things came to a head on Tuesday when both Dr Shaista Faisal and Dr Ahmed Nadeem Akbar appeared before the court claiming to be the sole PMDC registrar.

On Wednesday, the health secretary, however, told the court that even if a new ordinance was promulgated it would meet the same fate as the one of 2014.

Even though the health ministry is supposed to endorse all of PMDC’s major decisions, things had come to the point where the ministry had stopped acknowledging the council’s decisions and notifications.

The Asim Hussain connection?

The timing of this decision also seems critical, as it comes a day after Dr Asim Hussain — a key PPP leader and former PMDC vice president — was taken into custody in Karachi over allegations of embezzlement and financing terrorists.

Dr Hussain served in the PMDC from 2007 to 2012 and was considered the sole decision maker under the PPP regime.

The PMDC had even issued a statement condemning Dr Hussain’s arrest on Thursday.

However, talking to Dawn on Friday, the health minister insisted that the decision to dissolve the PMDC council had nothing to do with Dr Hussain’s arrest.

“The Supreme Court of Pakistan said on Friday that it was the job of the government to make a law and it should do so within two days. We said that because of the ongoing litigation, we had not been able to promulgate a new law for the past 18 months,” she said.

“We had already made the law and were waiting for the right time. The court’s orders gave us the opportunity to introduce the law without going to the Council of Common Interests (CCI). On Thursday, we sent a draft to the Law Division and after obtaining their approval, sent it to the Prime Minister’s Office, which passed it on to the Presidency,” Ms Tarar said.

“We will run the PMDC in a professional manner and the right people will be appointed to the management council to ensure that no one could point fingers at the PML-N government,” she said.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2015

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