LAHORE: The Pakistan Association of Private Medical and Dental Institutions (PAMI) has demanded that the government conduct fresh elections of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) according to a 2012 law.

The stance of PAMI came in the wake of the PMDC’s directions to the provinces to initiate centralised admissions of private medical and dental colleges according to the Council’s regulations 2016.

The PMDC regulations had empowered the affiliating universities all over the country to conduct admissions to all the private medical and dental colleges and prepare merit list. The Council’s directions to enforce 2016 regulations had inflicted a severe dent on the autonomy of the private medical and dental institutions.

As the University of Health Sciences (UHS) initiated the process as per the PMDC directions, PAMI arranged an emergent general body meeting of the association in Lahore on Saturday followed by a press briefing at a local hotel.

PAMI President Dr Tariq Sohail and general secretary Khaqan Waheed Khawja has called upon Federal Minister for Health Saira Afzal Tarar to immediately conduct elections of the Council otherwise the association would not be bound to accept its (PMDC) “unlawful orders”.

He said the Council was working illegally after the expiry of the PMDC Ordinance 2016 and PAMI was not bound to follow its instructions.

On the other hand, PMDC President Dr Shabbir Lehri termed PAMI’s demand illegal, illogical and unjustified saying that if the PMDC was illegal then why the association held dialogue with the council for a period of four months or so.

“The PAMI senior leaders paid many visits to the PMDC, held a number of meetings during the last four months or so and when we refused to bow down before their unjustified demands, they started malicious propaganda against the government’s top regulatory body,” Mr Lehri said.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2017