PESHAWAR, May 3: Teachers at the Khyber Medical College on Monday complained that the accommodation problem of teachers has become critical but the government is taking no step to build more houses for them. They said the existing number of 12 residential units were not enough to accommodate more than 200 teachers.

The houses located at the campus were handed over to the KMC after its separation from the University of Peshawar in 70s, were also in a bad shape and needed urgent repair.

The teachers have also complained about the out-of-turn allotment of houses to some teachers who are close to high officials.

They said that a contract doctor, who happened to be on number 12 at the waiting list was allotted a house in campus.

“The new allottee is an assistant professor on contractual basis, who besides at the bottom of the merit list even didn’t qualify to be allotted an official residence”, said a source, adding that a telephone call from a higher authority forced the principal to allot the house to the contract doctor.

But a senior doctor, who had applied for the allotment Of a house in early 1995, was denied the same.

“We want the new allotment to be cancelled and the house be allotted on merit”, said a senior teacher.

Likewise, inordinate delay in the appointment of a new principal has been creating academic problems. The post fell vacant on Dec 30 last year with the retirement of Prof Dr Khalid Attaullah Mufti. Names of three senior-most professors were under consideration and the Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani is supposed to take final decision in this regard.

“However after the passage of more than three months, the chief minister is yet to take a decision in this respect, which has been causing numerous problems for the college’s administration”, a source at the KMC, said.

A source at the secretariat said that the health minister wanted the acting principal to be posted as permanent principal, while the chief minister is favouring another professor.

“If the chief minister ordered the appointment of the pro-

fessor of his choice, it would create heartburn between him and his health minister, who is in favour of the acting principal”, he said.

This has caused many problems at the college, a teacher said. According to him, there had been no meeting of the academic council, which is compulsory to meet once a month and take important decisions.

Likewise, he said that there are issues, such as the new girls campus, which needed the appointment of a permanent principal.

They said that the issue of converting the Khyber Medical College (KMC) to medical university also needed regular principal to pursue the matter.