LAHORE; March 26: Nine ministerial staff members of the Punjab Medical Faculty (PMF) are involved in the Dec 2004 paramedical examinations scam as well as mismanagement in documentation and issuance of certificates since 1996.

A five-member inquiry committee convened by adviser technical (health) has recommended proceedings against them for serious misconduct, indiscipline, inefficiency and corruption.

The committee also recommended that three out of nine culprits, who were working in the examination and certification branches and had amassed huge assets in various forms, should be handed over to the Anti-Corruption Department and National Accountability Bureau for a thorough investigation into their assets. They were assistants Saifullah Warraich, Muhammad Inamullah and junior clerk Muhammad Rafi.

The other six accused ministerial staff members of the PMF were junior clerk Muhammad Boota, dispatch clerk Zaheer Ahmad, certification clerk Mujeebullah (already terminated from service), certification officer Nasir Maqbool, assistant to certification officer Iftikhar Ahmad and steno/PA to the PMF secretary Imran Ejaz. The inquiry report said the officials had committed irregularities in scrutinising examination forms, issuing roll numbers to doubtful and ineligible candidates, receiving blank certificates and issuing those without any justification.

The report said that Inamullah had received 8,556 original blank certificates and failed to produce authority and justification for receiving and issuing those certificates. Similarly, Zaheer Ahmad received 6,500 renewal certificates during 2001-05 but failed to produce authority and justification for collecting and issuing them.

Mujeebullah, Rafi, Nasir and Imran received 13,099, 12,000, 2,500 and 1,100 different certificates, respectively, since 1996 but could not justify their issuance.

The inquiry committee found that the PMF was supposed to issue 11,558 certificates but it issued 53,855 since 1996. “It can safely be stated that the number of certificates issued by the PMF is many times more than the number of candidates actually passed,” the report said.

In view of the mass distribution of certificates on a ‘commercial basis’, the committee suggested that the health department should get information from field through its drug inspectors about dispensers working as drug sale licence holders on the basis of certificates issued by the PMF.

“It needs verification both in the field as well as at the PMF to eliminate unqualified and bogus certificate holders who are playing with the lives of innocent people. The figures of bogus certificate-holders run in thousands who are scattered all over Punjab and have been affecting the health of people, particularly rural population, for many years.” The committee observed that the PMF’s former secretary Dr Firdous Shah and registrar Dr Zubair, who were later suspended, had failed to organise and supervise the working of staff related to collection and issuance of certificates, which were being used on commercial basis.

Finding that the affiliation of private paramedical institutions had turned into a lucrative commercial business without any quality control, the committee suggested that all the affiliated private institutions should be re-inspected and re-evaluated through neutral inspectors.

Punjab health minister Dr Tahir Ali Javed said all the culprits were being proceeded against under the Punjab Removal from Service Ordinance.

Another inquiry conducted earlier by a three-member committee convened by advisor technical (health) Dr Anwaar Ahmad Bugvi had concluded that the PMF’s paramedical examination for December 2004 was held in gross violation of rules and regulations. It said that all the nine examiners, who marked the scripts, had behaved against all norms of paper-marking and were responsible for gross violation of misconduct and corruption.

The scandal, brought to the limelight by the health minister in April last, had revealed that the examiners intentionally passed those candidates who should have been failed, and failed those who were supposed to get high marks.

The results of re-evaluation by independent examiners were shocking as most of the failed candidates were declared pass and those securing good marks were declared fail.

The initial assessment, which was never approved, showed that 3,546 candidates had appeared for the dispensers’ examination out of whom 1,130 were declared successful, with percentage 32.

The re-evaluation changed the results as only 668 candidates could pass, with percentage coming down to 18.8.

On the basis of the inquiry report, the health department had blacklisted all the nine examiners.

The inquiry committee had also observed: “Most of the staff members, particularly all staff of the examination branch, were involved directly or indirectly in the scam.”