QUETTA: Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has threatened to de-recognise Balochistan's only medical college, Bolan Medical College (BMC), if the government fails to grant it university status by October 2016, BMC Principal Shabir Lehri told Dawn.

The PMDC has asked the BMC, currently affiliated with the University of Balochistan, to either upgrade to university level or affiliate itself with a medical university.

"It would be very strange if the BMC gets affiliated with another province's medical university", Dr Syed Saleem Agha, a well-known surgeon, told Dawn.

Senior doctors and academicians expressed serious concerns about the delay in elevation of the college's status and demanded practical steps in order to ensure provincial academia does not face humiliation.

"The government must upgrade the college to university level without any further delay," Dr Irfan Tareen, a well-known skin specialist told Dawn.

During the budget for fiscal year 2015-16, the Balochistan government, under former chief minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, had announced the intent to elevate BMC's status to that of a medical university. However, progress on the matter is yet to be made.

A senior doctor on the condition of anonymity told Dawn that some elements in the health department created hurdles in the upgrade due to their fear of losing administrative and financial control of the college. "They want to control each and every thing in health", he claimed.

Sources in the health department said that the summary for the elevation of the college's status has been sent to the Balochistan Law Department, but there has been little progress in the two weeks that have elapsed since.

A delegation of senior doctors led by Dr Agha called on Governor Balochistan Muhammad Khan Achakzai regarding the matter.

Earlier in 2015, the Balochistan High Court had abolished special seats in the Bolan Medical College and said the creation of such seats in categories A, B, C, D and E in the prospectus of the college is clear violation of articles 25 and 37 of the Constitution.

The court had stated that unclaimed and unfilled seats reserved for foreign nationals, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Northern Areas, Punjab (reciprocal) and Sindh (reciprocal) could be filled on the self-finance basis because allocation of such seats in the public sector college meant to accommodate the privileged class that negated the merit.