March 28, 2003	Friday	Muharram 24, 1424

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RAWALPINDI, March 27: The Board of Governors of Rawalpindi Medical College and autonomous hospitals on Thursday unofficially elected Mian Pervez Aslam as the chairman.

The former chairman, Air Marshal Arshad Chaudhry (retired), had resigned on February 6. Since, there was no formal communication from the Punjab government about the acceptance or otherwise of the resignation, the working of the board had come to a standstill.

Talking to reporters during his last visit to Rawalpindi Press Club, Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, however, had said the resignation had been accepted. Nevertheless, no formal notification was issued.

The BoG members, during their meeting with Punjab governor Lt-Gen Khalid Maqbool (retired) on the occasion of the RMC convocation a few days ago, had taken up the issue of the chairman’s resignation and the subsequent silence from the government quarters about its fate.

He had assured them that the matter would be sorted out at the earliest. He, however, told them to continue functioning actively as absence of the chairman did not affect their working.

The BoG members on Thursday met and unofficially elected Mian Pervez Aslam.

“The meeting cannot be called official as it lacked the required quorum,” a member said.

All non-official members were present, but, the official members were not available at the meeting. The members then convened another meeting for April 5, where a final decision is expected.

One of the members told this reporter that there was a lot of confusion about the future course of action due to the absence of relevant regulations in the health ordinance.

“However, we have tried to chart out our course of action through mutual consensus to put back the things on track,” the member said.

“The members today resolved to make a fresh start and break away from the controversial past that had been hampering the board’s working,” he said.