February 04, 2008	Monday	Muharram 25, 1429

PESHAWAR, Feb 3: The NWFP government is likely to accommodate the students of Jinnah Medical College (JMC) in the public sector colleges of the province, sources say.

“A meeting of the principals of the public sector medical colleges is being convened next week to hammer out a solution to the problems of 171 students of JMC,” a senior health official said.

He said that the initiative had been taken in view of the application to the health minister by the parents of JMC students. About 171 students had been admitted to JMC after passing entrance test. At the time of admission the students were given an impression that the JMC was affiliated with University of Peshawar (UoP).

“A letter was shown to us issued by the UoP dated August 23, 2003, stating that JMC was affiliated with the university. The JMC administration had also assured us that the college had been recognised by the Higher Education Commission and the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) would also recognise it very soon,” said the application.On August 18, 2007 the students came to know that JMC was on the verge of closure following a directive by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on August 14 same year to the prime minister asking him to order closure of the medical colleges which weren’t up to the mark according to the PMDC standard.

This prompted the parents to strive for the protection of the future of their wards from being spoiled. A series of protest, hunger strikes and demonstration by the students became order of the day, which resulted in the suo motu notice by the then Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on September 13 2007.

Secretary of the PMDC told the apex court during the hearing on October 3, 2007 that the JMC students were taking examination under the UoP, but their degrees would not be recognised. The secretary had further stated in the court that in near future, there was no chance that PMDC would accord recognition to the JMC.