GUJRAT: The fate of faculty members and some allied staff of the Nawaz Sharif Medical College (NSMC) hangs in balance as officially they are still the employees of the University of Gujrat (UoG), despite the administrative separation of the college from the varsity a couple of years ago.

This anomaly is resulting in various issues for the medical college teachers, including the recent delay in the payment of their salaries.

Some senior faculty members complained they have not been paid their salaries for the last couple of months because of some technical and administrative problems.

The NSMC had been established in 2010 as a constituent college of the UoG. However, the Punjab government placed the college under the administrative control of the Punjab Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department in 2022 because of some academic and administrative issues.

Official sources say the health department had taken over the land, buildings, vehicles, equipment and other assets of the college at the time of its separation from the UoG, but declined to adopt the faculty and other allied staff due to some legal hindrances.

They say the provincial government had constituted a committee to redress grievance and anomalies with regard to the NSMC and the Sargodha Medical College (SMC), that too had been relieved of the administrative control of the University of Sargodha (UoS).

The principals of both colleges (NSMC and SMC), vice chancellors of both varsities (UoG, UoS) and senior officers of the health department were members of that committee, that was supposed to resolve the issues pertaining to the fate of faculty and staff of both medical colleges, the sources say.

A senior NSMC faculty member told Dawn that the committee held at least seven to eight meetings, preparing a summary last year to settle the issue of absorption of the faculty members and staff of both colleges in the health department, which requiredapproval from the competent authority.

However, he says, the summary was stopped after the health secretary in the caretaker set-up raised some objections to it. The caretaker health minister, Dr Javed Akram, had also attended a meeting of the committee, the faculty member added.

UoG Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Mushahid Anwar, explaining the issue, says the NSMC faculty members had been hired through the varsity’s selection board, but as per law the health department could only make recruitment through the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC).

He says if the health department agrees to absorb the NSMC faculty members, their service will be considered as starting from the day of their rehiring through PPSC, that could jeopardise the careers and financial benefits of those who are nearing their superannuation.

The VC says that due to the legal hitches involved in the matter, some of the faculty members have also moved court for resolution of the issue.

However, he says, the NSMC faculty members were being paid their salaries every month through the UoG, while the health department reimburses the required amount into the varsity’s account after every three months.

The VC says that the recent delay in the payment of their salaries had been caused because the the health department’s note, required every month for the release of NSMC faculty members’ salaries, has yet not been received by the UoG.

Meanwhile, sources in the UoS say that the SMC faculty members are now making efforts to return to the administrative control of the varsity due to some service-related issues.

The affected staffers of both medical colleges have appealed to the Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to look into the matter and order measures for the resolution of their longstanding issues.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2024