GUJRAT: The University of Gujrat on Thursday appointed professor of surgery Dr Merajul Siraj as acting principal of Nawaz Sharif Medical College (NSMC) till further orders as a UoG spokesman said previous principal Dr Zafar Iqbal Gill was not sacked but relieved from the duty on his personal request on Wednesday.

The NSMC has consistently been run by an acting principal for the last few years as Dr Gill was working on acting charge basis since long. And the UoG is so far unable to appoint a permanent head of the medical college, a constituent institute of the varsity. On the other hand, the Punjab government has appointed Dr Shahid Farooq as Aziz Bhatti Shaheed Teaching Hospital MS who assumed the charge on Thursday. Earlier on Wednesday, MS Dr Shahid Maroof was suspended by the health secretary on charges of inefficiency and misconduct.

On Wednesday, Punjab Health Minister Khwaja Salman Rafique and Secretary Najam Shah had paid a surprise visit to ABSTH on the request of Gujrat DC Muhammad Ali Randhawa and found the hospital management inefficient. UoG Vice Chancellor Ziaul Qayyum and NSMC head Dr Zafar Gill were also present during the [surprise] inspection.

According to DC Randhawa, it was conveyed to the VC by the health secretary to remove the principal due to some financial issues relating to the outsourcing of cleaning sheets and other administrative affairs.However, he said charges were yet to be probed since [the] budget and accounts officer Azhar Majeed had been on leave and the secretary would conduct an inquiry once he (Majeed) resumed duty.

Meanwhile, UoG VC Dr Qayyum, college head Dr Meraj and ABSTH MS Dr Shahid Farooq called on the DC at latter’s office and held a detailed meeting as a follow-up to the Wednesday’s inspection tour. As per sources, the meeting decided that the NSMC principal will act as an overall in-charge of the ABSTH and the MS will look after other administrative matters of the hospital.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2017