February 7, 2003	Friday	Zul Hijjah 5,1423

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RAWALPINDI, Feb 6: The chairman, board of governors, Rawalpindi Medical College and allied hospitals, Air Marshal Arshad Chaudhry (retired), on Thursday resigned from his office in protest against Chief Minister Pervez Elahi’s decision to reinstate Dr Nisar Cheema as medical superintendent (MS) of Holy Family Hospital.

Dr Cheema had been transferred on the orders of the chairman in November last.

Talking to Dawn, the former board chairman, who previously served as vice chief of air staff, said the chief minister’s decision to reverse his orders had caused embarrassment to him, therefore, he could not work any longer.

He said he had ordered Mr Cheema’s transfer as he was dragging his feet on the commissioning of Rawalpindi Medical College Complex. The project had been marred by massive irregularities.

However, the former chairman said someone had to take the decision and start the project.

He said another reason for resigning from the post was that the autonomy promised to the hospitals had been decreased. “One should not expect me to improve the situation in the hospitals, when I have been restrained from taking disciplinary action against any officer,” he said, adding that doctors were creating hindrance in putting the hospitals back on track.

He refuted the impression that he had decided to step down in anticipation of government decision to wind up board of governors.

Air Marshal Chaudhry was appointed as chairman of the board of governors on June 11. In November last, the district council had passed a resolution, asking the government to remove the chairman for having failed to improve hospitals’ working.

Rumours were rife that Principal Executive Officer (PEO) Dr Abdul Majeed Rajput had also decided to resign from his post. When contacted for confirmation, he said: “Wait and see what happens”.

Meanwhile, crisis over appointment of Holy Family Hospital MS took a turn, when Dr Aqeela again took over the office. Mr Cheema had been reinstated by the chief minister on Monday. He did not come to the office on Thursday, but sources close to him told this reporter that he would take over the office on Friday.