RAWALPINDI, Aug 2: Absence of rules of business for the autonomous hospitals has paralysed the working of the newly constituted Board of Management (BoM).

A senior official of the teaching hospitals said though the amended shape of autonomy was put into effect a couple of weeks ago through a bill approved by the provincial assembly, the rules to operationalize the bill were yet to be announced.

The new board was constituted last month, but it has yet to meet officially. A major snag in the holding of the meeting of the Board is the absence of rules, a BoM member said and added that though an unofficial meeting was held last week, it was nothing more than an introductory get together and no formal agenda was discussed.

Everyone in the teaching hospitals administration is waiting for the announcement of the rules by the provincial government.

“The financial and administrative powers have not been defined as yet, hence there is not much to do for us,” an official said when asked to comment on the situation. There are not any interim rules either to regulate the affairs, he added.

The official said the health secretary, who visited the Holy Family Hospital a few days ago for briefing on the Rawalpindi Medical College Complex project, was apprised about the situation and he too agreed that some interim arrangement needed to be put in place.

The official said since July was the first month of the financial year, absence of rules did not cause any major problem. However, he cautioned, if the government continued with the same casual attitude towards the issue, the situation could complicate in the current month.