GUJRAT: The University of Gujrat (UoG) has declined to accept the district government’s proposal of giving an autonomous status to its constituent Nawaz Sharif Medical College (NSMC).

The district administration, in a recent meeting with the UoG vice chancellor and the NSMC principal, had presented three proposals to resolve the issues pertaining to the college and Aziz Bhatti Shaheed Hospital, the teaching hospital of the college.

There have been serious differences between the district government and the UoG over the college since long. As an option of a permanent solution to these problems, the government had proposed an autonomous status for the NSMC so that the medical college could solely be responsible for financial and administrative matters of the hospital.

As per the master plan of the medical college, a separate teaching hospital had to be established but due to the lack of financial resources, the provincial government had declared the ABSH as the teaching facility for the college on temporary basis in 2014 and since that declaration, the hospital has been put under direct control of the health department. But the hospital’s medical superintendent (MS) does not have any control over the staff deputed by the NSMC at the hospital which is about 40pc of the total staff. This creates issues between the hospital administration and the NSMC staff who are not answerable to the MS.

All these issues and proposals for their solution were discussed in the meeting between the UoG management and district administration.

As per the proposals, the NSMC and its teaching hospital might be given an autonomous status instead of a constituent college of the UoG like Allama Iqbal Medical College and Jinnah Hospital, secondly the NSMC’s principal might be notified as the chief executive of the ABSH with financial matters resting with the MS like the King Edward Medical College whose principal heads the Mayo Hospital and thirdly the UoG and ABSH might sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to determine who would supervise the medical college and its teaching hospital.

However, both the UoG and the district government have reservations about one or the other of these options as the UoG is of the view that the NSMC has been its integral part as it could never have been established had the varsity not made it as its constituent entity. The college’s classes are being held at a block of the university besides the staff was hired as per the university’s own statute and pay scales.

UoG VC Dr Ziaul Qayyum said his institution could accept the chief executive’s post of the NSMC purely on administrative grounds with financial matters remaining within the domain of the MS.

A senior official of the district government said that in case of the university’s proposal’s acceptance, the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), Young Doctors Association (YDA) and paramedics would not accept the principal acting as chief executive so both the medical college and teaching hospital be made autonomous entities.

Official sources told Dawn that Gujranwala’s acting commissioner Aamir Jan who was also among the participants in the meeting to resolve the issues, had directed the Gujrat executive district officer (EDO) health to prepare a presentation bearing all those options, listing pros and cons of each option to reach a suitable conclusion.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2016