GUJRAT: At least 50 out of total 100 seats meant for students of the Nawaz Sharif Medical College (NSMC) have not been approved by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC).

According to sources, the college has been paying a heavy fine every year to the PMDC for not seeking approval of the 50 seats meant for medical students for over last eight years. During the period, neither the college nor the Punjab health department ever applied for approval of the seats, they said.

NSMC was established by the provincial health department in 2009 with an initial approval of 50 seats for the admissions by the PMDC. However, the health department enhanced the seats from 50 to 100 in 2010 on its own without approaching the PMDC for approval in this regard, the sources said.

They said the department’s then hierarchy was of the opinion that a medical college with only 50 seats might cost heavily to the government in terms of financial spendings, so it decided to double the number.

College paying heavy fine to council for violation

The sources said that after sending repeated notices to the college administration and the health department, the PMDC had imposed a fine of Rs22 million on the NSMC in 2015 for not getting the 50 seats approved for five years.

It had also directed all the stakeholders to submit an affidavit, pledging the college would not violate the seats quota and admit students against only 50 seats, they added.

They said that despite submission of the affidavits by the stakeholders, including the NSMC, Punjab health department and the University of Health Sciences (UHS) to the PMDC, the annual intake of the students had been around 100.

Meanwhile, the NSMC administration had been depositing Rs2 million annually to the PMDC till 2018 for committing the violation of seat quota.

An official source said the PMDC had also asked the NSMC administration to do self assessment for the inspection visit of the college for approval of the additional 50 seats. The college administration had repeatedly been asked by the council to suggest a date for the visit, but to no avail, he added.

He said that under a unique arrangement, the NSMC was established as a constituent college of the University of Gujrat (UoG), whereas its budget came from the provincial health department. The NSMC was affiliated with the UHS and the Aziz Bhatti Shaheed Teaching Hospital (ABSTH) was given the status of the college’s teaching hospital for five years as a temporary arrangement.

He said that was the reason the NSMC had never been given a regular principal who could also act as its project director like Sialkot and Gujranwala medical colleges which had been functioning in a much better way.

The appointment of the NSMC principal was being made by the UoG vice chancellor, that too on the acting charge basis and the Gujrat deputy commissioner had been working as its project director.

A senior administrative officer at the UoG told Dawn that the health department had assured the varsity of payment of the fine amount paid to the PMDC. After the commitment, the UoG had paid the fine amount from its own account and so far the department had not released the sum to the varsity, he added.

He said the NSMC had been short of faculty and resources, adding that applications had been invited to fill the vacant posts. He said though the selection board met several times, it could not find suitable candidates to fill the posts on merit. He suggested that the Punjab government should provide the required faculty on deputation basis so that the college could get approval of additional 50 seats.

He said the NSMC had also written to the health department to formally apply for the PMDC approval, but response was awaited. He added the college needed at least two surgery units at its teaching hospital, but it had only one such facility.

He said the issue of administrative dichotomy had also been affecting the performance of the NSMC and the ABSTH since long. The deputy commissioners during the past five years had been writting to the government to either resolve these issues or award an autonomous status to the NSMC, he added.

Professor Dr Ateeq, the NSMC acting principal, however, said that he had taken the UoG and health department into confidence over initiating the process for the approval of enhanced seats and now the college would formally submit an application with the PMDC for the purpose.

He said the NSMC principal was responsible for academics, whereas the ABSTH medical superintendent for logistics and both had a crucial role in performance of these institutions.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2018