LAHORE: The interviews for the selection of the University of Health Sciences (UHS) vice chancellor on Friday ended up in a controversy when some candidates (senior doctors) raised the issue of “violation of the criteria”.

An “extraordinary situation” surfaced during the interview process when a senior medic, retired Brig Prof Mowadat Rana, was shocked to know that he was not awarded marks against his research publications.

Some other candidates also had similar complaints and said they would challenge the appointment process in court. They declared the selection process “fake” claiming that a candidate had already been given a go-ahead for the post to oblige one of the members of the search committee.

Twenty-nine former vice chancellors, chairmen and principals of the medical institutions appeared before the search committee for interview for the top slot of the UHS.

An official told Dawn that the Punjab government was already facing strong criticism after it made acting vice chancellor of the UHS one of the members of the committee, creating a doubt about transparency. However, the department ignored reservations and directed the committee to conduct the interviews.

He said the committee finalised the interviews of all the 29 candidates on Friday from 9am to 1pm.

The official said Prof Mowadat Rana has to his credit more than 50 research publications and when he raised the issue of wrong marking, the officials in the research committee replied that they were not provided his record.

He said another candidate, Prof Mulazam Hussain Bukhari, got upset when he was awarded ‘zero’ for his extra qualification. He also expressed his strong reservation over what he said pathetic process, saying he was the only candidate with a PhD and a supervisor recognised by the Pakistan Higher Education Commission (PHEC) and the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC). Similarly, another contender Professor of Physiology Dr Zafar Hussain complained about a lack of transparency.

Prof Irshad Hussain, the registrar of the King Edward Medical University, was abroad and the committee had promised his interview on skype. However, he was interviewed through a regular call made by one of the committee members. His objection for not interviewing him on skype was overlooked when he raised the issue.

The official said the candidates while appearing before the search committee also lodged protest for giving each of them five to 10 minutes.

He said some senior medics decided to meet the health secretary on Saturday (today).

Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Secretary Najam Shah declined to comment.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2018