ISLAMABAD: Despite assurances from the Ministry of Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) that the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) hospital will be separated from the university, the parliament’s track record shows that not a single private bill has been passed in the last three years.

CADD Minister Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said a private bill could be passed if the government wants it to, and the bill on the separation of the Pims hospital from the university would be passed.

After the PPP government passed the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU) Islamabad Bill in 2013, the hospital was upgraded to a medical university – making Pims an autonomous organisation.

No private bill has been passed by Parliament in last three years

On August 15, the Pims Restoration Movement (PRM)held a press conference in which its chairman announced that the hospital’s outpatient department would be closed if the hospital was not separated from the university. Pims employees also held a strike on August 22 and 23, following which the CADD minister intervened and assured them a bill tabled by retired Maj Tahir Iqbal in 2014 would be passed by a National Assembly standing committee on August 26.

But a CADD ministry official who requested anonymity said over the last three years, the PML-N government has not passed a single private bill.

“It seems there are fewer chances of a private bill being passed. The government should adopt the bill to ensure its passenger. The other option is that the SZABMU’s senate can also give its recommendation to separate the university from the hospital,” the official said.

Every university has a syndicate, and a senate above that. The SZABMU Senate has 40 members – elected and unelected – with the president of Pakistan as its chancellor.

“If the university senate recommends separation, these recommendations will be sent to the CADD ministry and after being vetted by the law ministry, the bill would be sent to parliament. It will become a government bill and can sail through parliament easily,” he added.

Pims Vice Chancellor Dr Javed Akram said the university’s syndicate, in which there are five senators and five MNAs, has already recommended the separation of the hospital from the university.

“The Establishment Division has issued a notification that Pims employees will remain government servants, so the employees demand has been addressed,” he added.

“However, there is a need to change the [private] bill because it suggests that the name of the university (Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto) should be changed, which will become objectionable to the PPP. THE bill suggests that the pro-chancellor should be appointed, which is not a practice or requirement at other universities.”

PRM Chairman Dr Asfandyar Khan said the CADD minister had assured them the bill would sail through parliament, so he believed the bill would be passed.

“We also contacted MNA Tahir Iqbal, and he assured us he would attend the standing committee meeting on August 26th to defend his bill,” Dr Khan said.

CADD minister Dr Chaudhry told Dawn he did not believe the government needed to adopt the bill.

“MNA Tahir Iqbal belongs to PML-N, and if the government wants to pass the bill it will be passed without any hurdles,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2016