ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) on Thursday notified 12 of the 17 members of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) but none of them are from Sindh and Balochistan.

According to rules, there have to be two members belonging to clinical and basic sciences from each province. Moreover, one member, a dental professional, is to be nominated for half of the tenure of the council by Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

NHS Secretary Zahid Saeed told Dawn that Sindh had not nominated its members at all. However, nominations from Balochistan have been received and would be sent to Prime Minister Office for approval on Friday, he added.

According to a notification dated Feb 28, after getting approval from the prime minister the ministry notified the 12 members.

They are: Dr Tariq Iqbal Bhutta, Prof Shoaib Hassan Shah, Mohammad Ali Raza, Prof Aamer Zaman Khan, Prof Amer Bilal, Prof Khalid Usman, Prof Umer Farooq, Prof Saeed Sadiq Hamid, Dr Sulman Jaffar, Prof Muslim Khan, Prof Zafarullah Chaudhry and Major Gen Prof Saleem Ahmed Khan.

An official of the health ministry said members from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and others, including philanthropists, representatives of armed forces and the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan, had been nominated.

“Though the nominations from Balochistan have been received, their members are not notified. We have an impression that the government wants to elect the president of the council without including members from Sindh and Balochistan,” he said.

According to a notification issued by the government of Balochistan on Feb 21, its nominated members included former PMDC president Prof Dr Shabir Lehri for clinical faculty, Prof Nadeem Samad Sheikh for basic sciences faculty and Prof Mirza Khan for the seat of dentistry.

The ministry official alleged that it was being considered that the president would be elected before induction of the members from Sindh and Balochistan. Later, members from both the provinces would be inducted.

“Currently, Prof Shoaib Hassan Shah and Prof Amer Bilal are being considered as the strong candidates for the post of president,” he said.

But the NHS secretary said the ministry notified the members whose names were available.

“We have not received nominations from Sindh and even on Thursday I talked to the secretary health Sindh to send the nominations. However, I have received nominations from Balochistan which will be sent to the PM Office on Friday for approval. If we receive the nominations from Sindh early in the morning, we will also send them along with the nominations from Balochistan.”

He said once approval was received from the PM office, the names of members from both the provinces would be notified.

In reply to a question, Mr Saeed said he wanted that the council should start working at the earliest.

In the first week of January, President Dr Arif Alvi promulgated the ‘PMDC Ordinance 2019’ envisaging that the 17-member council would deal with issues related to medical colleges, attached hospitals and health professionals.

However, the ordinance will have to sail through parliament within 120 days. In case of a delay, the government will have to extend its time period for another 120 days by passing a resolution in the National Assembly.

On the other hand, opposition parties can repeal the ordinance by passing a resolution in the Senate where they have a majority.

Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2019