ISLAMABAD: The president of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has called a meeting of its executive council in Quetta for May 25, which some members of the council claim is because he belongs to Quetta and will likely not be opposed there.

However, PMDC President Dr Shabbir Lehri said all disputes in the council have been resolved and that though the meeting on May 25 was scheduled to be held in Quetta from before, members had been asked if they had objections to the venue.

During its last meeting on April 6, members of the executive council had criticised Dr Lehri and accused him of corruption. One of the members said there is also an audio recording of Dr Lehri demanding a bribe for registering a college. Members had not let the president sit on his seat and had demanded he resign. The meeting was called off without approving minutes of past meetings.

“The point of contention was that Dr Lehri sent the names of six medical colleges approved by the council in the last week of January to the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) for the colleges to be notified which the ministry refused as the minutes were not approved,” a member of the council said.

He said some of the members had decided to not go to the meeting in Quetta on May 25 as it will not be possible to criticise the PMDC president there, but that does not mean allegations against the president have been removed.

“There are so many issues which need to be looked into. The council has no legal value because its bill could not be passed by parliament which is why the ministry is not notifying 50 post-graduate programs,” he said.

“The council has not done any work at all. It made two regulations, the first of which was in 2016 which was for admission regulations and which was stayed by the Lahore High Court. The second was for teaching regulations and was made this year, but it remained on the council website for two months before being removed, with the council saying it will be uploaded again after approval,” the member added.

“This year, the council advertised jobs for non-gazetted employees and demanded Rs5,000 with each application. Now, the job of advisor has been advertised but applicants are not asked for money,” he said.

The council member went on to say that the council has six posts for deputy registrars three of which are filled by promotion and the rest by direct appointment. The promotion seats are filled but a meeting of the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) has been called on Monday in which appointments on two of the promotion-filled seats for deputy registrars will be considered and will be approved in Quetta.

Talking to Dawn, Dr Lehri said that though the council meeting was scheduled for Quetta, he had asked members if it should be held in Islamabad instead and that members had not had any objections to the venue.

“Some of the programmes have not been notified by the ministry but we are making efforts to have them notified. One of the committee members had objections to the teaching regulations which is why we are reconsidering them and we are not demanding an amount from applicants for the job of advisor as there are just a few applicants,” he said.

Dr Lehri added that he was making efforts to make the council internationally recognised and that some elements are trying to derail his efforts.

A member of the council, Dr Amir Bandesha, who is presiding the DPC meeting on Monday, told Dawn merit will be ensured during the meeting and only those candidates who meet the criteria will be promoted.

“The decision will be taken during meetings of the executive committee and executive council in Quetta on May 24 and 25 respectively,” he said.

The council has been facing controversies for almost a decade now. President Mamnoon Hussein on August 26, 2015 promulgated the PMDC Amendment Ordinance 2015 due to which the PMDC executive council was dissolved and an acting management committee headed by retired Maj Gen Azhar Kiyani was formed. The committee was advised to hold executive council elections in 120 days but the process could not be completed in the stipulated time due to which Minister NHS Saira Afzal Tarar on Dec 11, 2015 tabled a bill in the National Assembly for extending the ordinance for another 120 days.

The new management committee headed by Dr Lehri started working after the completion of the process but the presidential ordinance has so far not passed through Senate. Last year, the PML-N government had tried to pass the ordinance from a joint session, but Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani wrote to Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, suggesting the bill should not be taken up during a joint session which is why the legality of decisions taken by the council is still questionable.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2017