December 14, 2006	Thursday	Ziqa'ad 22, 1427

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PESHAWAR, Dec 13: Senior faculty members of the Khyber Medical College (KMC) have suggested that a medical college ‘Fata Medical College’ be established in Parachinar, sources said.

“The proposal was sent to the Fata civil secretariat after a meeting of senior faculty members of the KMC on Oct 20," said an official.

The meeting was held following a letter sent to the KMC by the Fata additional chief secretary on Oct 12 seeking suggestions on new medical college.

The sources said that Fata secretariat had decided to set up a medical college in the Khyber Agency which was earlier proposed to be established in Parachinar, the headquarters of Kurram Agency.

They said the secretariat had started looking for a site in Jamrud near the Hayatabad Township of Peshawar for the college.

However, the KMC’s faculty members opposed the construction of the medical college in Jamrud and argued that the place was only a few kilometres from Peshawar and the college would not serve the people of Fata.

The sources said that the KMC’s faculty members had proposed that the college should be built in Parachinar with a view to improving the training of students as well as bringing improvement to patients’ care.

Officials said Governor Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai had given his consent to shift the college from Kurram Agency to some other area, which should be accessible to students from all the tribal agencies and other parts of the country.

“We have proposed that the Fata medical college should be in Fata and for the people of tribal areas,” said a senior teacher.

The college was planned to be constructed in Parachinar in 70s and former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had allocated funds for the project, but later the project was shifted from Parachinar to Abbottabad.

The sources said that tribes in Parachinar had already offered land for free, which would enable the government to establish purpose-built building as per the PMDC's requirements.

They said that two sites had been proposed for the medical college near the Parachinar town and funds had been allocated in the Fata development programme for 2005-06. A building had also been rented for the college in the town.

Another meeting between the KMC’s faculty members and official of the Fata secretariat would be held on Thursday.