ISLAMABAD: Although rules for the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) tribunal have been finalised and the perks and privileges for members notified, stakeholders remain unclear on how the tribunal will start functioning.

Confusion over whether the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) or the PMDC will call the tribunal’s first meeting, if tribunal staff will be hired or deputed, who will be responsible for paying salaries and how many members will be on each bench to hear cases still persists.

The council is also unclear on whether technical members, both professors, will be able to continue their jobs. At the same time, the council has already begun receiving complaints to be heard by the tribunal.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa has nominated retired justice Syed Shabbar Raza Rizvi as chairperson of the tribunal, while retired justices Riaz Ahmed and Mehmood Maqbool Bajwa and professors Javaid Raza Gardezi and Saeed Qureshi have been nominated as members by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Confusion persists over various aspects of tribunal’s functioning

According to the tribunal’srules, which are available with Dawn, the chairperson and members are appointed for a three-year term and will be eligible for reappointment for such term or terms as the prime minister may determine.

The terms of the chairperson or members can be ceased if they become insane, are found not to be citizen of Pakistan or are convicted of a criminal offence that implies moral turpitude or is declared an insolvent by a competent court.

The chairperson and members will be entitled to a monthly salary at minimum of the MP-I scale and subsequent annual increments earned in the normal course, in terms of the MP-I scale.

A letter, signed by PMDC Deputy Director Dr Farrah Mazhar shows that the basic pay of members will be Rs433,950, minimum house rent will be Rs101,000 and minimum utilities of Rs19,650 will be allowed.

Each member will be allowed a 1,600cc chauffeur-driven car for official and private use, which will be maintained at the council’s expense.

They will have a petrol limit of 430 litres, and a travel allowance and daily allowancewill be given for tours within and outside the country.

They will have medical facilities for themselves, their spouses and children. Contracts can be cancelled at a month’s notice.

A PMDC official who asked not to be named said that according to his information, technical members are already employed at medical colleges and there was no mention of whether they can continue their jobs or if they have to resign.

He added that who will call the first meeting has not been mentioned, the way that the NHS ministry calls the first meeting of the council.

Ministry of NHS Director General Dr Asad Hafeez said that according to his information the technical members, who are both professors, have either retired or are not working as regular employees.

“As far as first meeting is concerned, the tribunal will act like a court so it is not going to hold meetings but rather it will hold hearings. There will be at least two

members, one retired judge and one technical member, on each bench. According to my information people have started filing complaints which will be heard by the tribunal,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2019