RECENTLY, the Sindh Assembly passed a bill to change the name of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD). This bill was passed earlier and the Sindh governor sent it back to the provincial assembly for reconsideration.

It does not seem appropriate to change the name of a national institute with a provincial or regional name. The NICVD has this name since its inception.

The NICVD is an institute of national level. Still many people from all over the country come here to get quality treatment.

If the Sindh government wants to have such an institute in the name of the province, it would be better to build a new cardiac hospital. By changing a national institute’s name and calling it a Sindh institute is a narrow-minded approach. Besides, the Sindh government does not have this mandate to change this name.

One does not understand why it is necessary to place its headquarters at Sukkur after the change of name. The Sindh Assembly passed this bill second time at a time when the Supreme Court has given its decision that the NICVD should be run by the federal government.

So it will also be contempt of the apex court.

Dr Alfred Charles

Karachi

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2019