LAHORE: The Punjab government has initiated proceedings under Punjab Employees Efficiency, Discipline and Accountability (Peeda) Act against three senior engineers of the Communication and Works (C&W) department and as many doctors of the Gujrat government teaching hospital in the wake of the roof collapse incident which had led to the death of two patients and injuries to 12 others in April this year.

The action was initiated after Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz approved a summary sent by the health department.

On April 24, the roof of the surgical ward at the Aziz Bhatti Shaheed Teaching Hospital (ABSTH) in Gujrat had collapsed, resulting in the death of the patients and injuries to a dozen others.

As many as 20 patients were under treatment at the time of the incident while their relatives/attendants and hospital’s employees were also present there.

Two patients died, 12 others injured as Gujrat hospital roof collapsed in April

An official said the health department had sought approval of the chief minister to initiate proceedings against the government officials including Gujrat Division Buildings Executive Engineer Mohammad Rauf, Sub-Divisional Officer Fawad Munir, Kharian Sub-Engineer Sartash Ahmad, former ABSTH Gujrat MS Dr Asif Mahmood, chief consultant surgeon/head of the department unit-I Dr Iqbal Alvi and DMS Jawad Yousuf.

“The chief minister/competent authority, in due consideration of the facts of the case, is of the considered opinion that there are sufficient grounds to proceed against the accused officials under section 3 of the Peeda Act 2006 on account of misconduct, inefficiency and corruption,” reads the summary.

As per the report, all the three C& W officers had failed to ensure standard operating procedures outlined by the department for carrying out the revamping work.

Similarly, the removal of the load-bearing masonry pillars at ground floor caused the collapse of the roof slabs.

It stated that the problem originated with the single pillar positioned in the middle third of the corridor upon entry from the main entrance.

“This subsequently resulted in the structural failure that ultimately led to the collapse of the roof across the entire ground and the first floor of the ward,” reads the report.

According to the report, these officials were further held guilty of the negligence, stating that the building was not evacuated prior to the commencement of the renovation work and the revamping process was under way while patients and their attendants were present on the first floor of the hospital.

The report stated that Dr Iqbal Alvi, Dr Jawad Yousuf and Dr Asif Mahmood failed to assess and report the risks involved in keeping the surgical ward operational in the building which was under construction at that time.

These medics did not get any clearance/permission from the concerned (buildings) department for keeping the surgical ward operational during the construction work/civil work.

They were held guilty of charges for not taking appropriate measures needed for the safety of the patients and the staff of the hospitals, according to the report.

Following these charges, the chief minister constituted an inquiry committee to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the officials.

Special Education Department Secretary Saima Saeed (BS-21) will be the convener while Irrigation Chief Engineer Sadaqat Latif is member of the committee notified by the health department.

The Gujrat buildings sub-divisional officer was appointed as departmental representative under section 9(1) ( C) of the Peeda Act.

The committee was directed to submit a detailed report within 60 days of its constitution positively to place the same before the Punjab chief minister/competent authority for final consideration.

Published in Dawn, December 26th, 2024