KARACHI, May 18: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) on Saturday blamed the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) saying that it failed to perform its duty like an honest professional body.

Dr Shershah Syed, a former member of the PMDC, Dr Idrees Adhi, the general secretary of the PMA’s Karachi chapter, and Dr S.M. Qaiser Sajjad said at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club that a six-member caretaker executive committee was authorised to conduct election and form a new PMDC as per a new ordinance, but it got involved in inspection and recognition of new medical colleges and had increased the number of seats in existing medical colleges in violation of their mandate.

They claimed that in the past few months more than 30 medical and dental colleges had been recognised in violation of rules and regulations.

They said that the executive committee appointed Dr Raja Amjad Mahmood as the administrator against the rules and regulations. Dr Mahmood appointed two advisers on heavy salaries without following the rules and regulations.

“The present caretaker executive committee has violated its mandate by appointing a new election commissioner instead of Justice Ghulam Rabbani, conducting elections across the country and selecting people of their choice without going to the electoral process,” said Dr Syed.

He said the committee members participated in the election and got themselves elected ‘in total violation of rules and regulations’.

He said the present executive members did not qualify to participate in elections.

“With this kind of PMDC, it will not be possible to regularise medical education in Pakistan,” said Dr Adhi. “We are producing qualified MBBS quacks because of inefficiency at the PMDC and because of different mafias working at different medical universities.”

They demanded that the government form a high-powered medical education commission to form a powerful, independent and autonomous PMDC as per decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan by conducting fair elections across the country.

They also demanded investigation of the affairs of medical universities in government sector hospitals and the audit of their performance in the areas of appointments of faculty and admissions of new students.

Besides, they asked for investigation of the status of new medical and dental colleges in the private sector.