ISLAMABAD: National Health Services (NHS) Minister Saira Afzal Tarar said on Friday that major government initiatives regarding the health sector, blasphemy laws and child abuse cases have been torpedoed due to political point-scoring and deep-rooted vested interests.

“We lost control of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) when we tried to bring reforms to the admission of students in private medical colleges and ensure health facilities in attached hospitals,” she told Dawn, while commenting on the matter of the PMDC, which was dissolved by the Supreme Court on Friday.

An ad hoc committee chaired by retired Justice Shakirullah Jan has been formed to run the council’s affairs.

“A number of attempts were made to pass the ordinance through which the new council would be formed and elections would be held, but because of political interests it was suggested that the ordinance be sent to the Council of Common Interest (CCI). Otherwise the ordinance would have been passed by parliament long ago. It provided an opportunity to private colleges to challenge the status of the council in court,” she added.

President Mamnoon Hussain promulgated the PMDC (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 on Aug 26, 2015, dissolving the executive council and leading to elections.

The government managed to get the ordinance passed by the National Assembly, but when the ordinance reached the Senate, the PPP leadership suggested sending the bill to the CCI rather than voting on it.

In October 2016, the PML-N government tried to pass the ordinance in the joint parliamentary session, but Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani wrote to National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq asking that he not take up the bill during the joint session, because of which the council could not be legitimised.

On Dec 7, 2017, the Lahore High Court restricted the functioning of the council and limited it to day-to-day activities. When the council appealed the verdict before the SC, the court dissolved the council and replaced it with an ad hoc committee.

Ms Tarar has said she hopes that the decision will be a “blessing in disguise” for the ministry, since the NHS secretary is a member of the committee and will play a role in drafting new legislation that will be submitted to the SC.

“Although the members of the ad hoc committee are quite competent, [my only reservation is] if members will be able to given time to the council. Retired Justice Shakirullah Jan is a good legal expert, but he might not be able to understand the technical issues of the PMDC.

“University of Health Sciences Vice Chancellor Prof Faisal Masood is quite competent, but how will he be able to leave his university and sit in Islamabad for PMDC issues,” she asked.

“However, my ministry will support the ad hoc committee and will try to solve all the pending issues. As the PMDC registrar will continue working, he can play an important role in guiding the members on the issues,” Ms Tarar said.

In response to a question, Ms Tarar said she will meet with the attorney general – also a committee member – in a day or two to draft new legislation.

“Although the new legislation can be done through a presidential ordinance, our priority will be to get the bill passed by parliament. I suggest that the ad hoc committee ensure the quality of education and that students are admitted purely on merit. Moreover, it should ensure that colleges do not charge exorbitant fees,” she said.

The PMDC suspended the intake of students in a number of colleges over the last two years due to a lack of faculty and facilities. Colleges were also directed not to charge exorbitant fees and to admit students on merit, rather than forcing them to make donations.

The council’s status was challenged by colleges in court.

Former council member Dr Amir Bandesha told Dawn that he believed private colleges had won on Friday.

“Now time will tell if merit prevails in private colleges or not. I expect that the ad hoc committee will not let colleges increase fees. Moreover, colleges that have been stopped from taking in students should not be allowed to admit them without facilities and faculty members,” he said.

The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has expressed display over the dissolution of the council. In a statement, PMA Secretary General Dr Qaiser Sajjad said that the PMA fears that a “vested interest group, which was ruling the roost for many years, will again become active”.

“This situation will cause further destruction and deterioration to the regulatory body. We demand that the new interim committee should be given the task to hold elections of PMDC as soon as possible. PMA also demand that the composition of the PMDC should remain the same as it was in the previous council,” he said.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2018