PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra on Friday confirmed the alleged irregularities in appointments to the public sector Nowshera Medical College and the attached Qazi Hussain Ahmad Medical Complex over the years and said the Provincial Inspection Team was looking into the matter.

“The PIT is carrying out a high-level inquiry into the doubtful process adopted for the filling of posts for top men and lower staff members at the Nowshera medical college and attached medical teaching institution by the relevant authorities,” the minister told the provincial assembly during a session chaired by Deputy Speaker Mahmud Jan.

Minister confirms ‘doubtful process’ adopted for appointments over the years

The information was shared with the house in response to a question filed by MPA of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Ikhtiar Wali from Nowshera district.

Mr Wali alleged gross violation of the law and rules for the appointment of a large number of employees to the Nowshera Medical College since 2015.

“The authorities didn’t recruit brilliant candidates, who stood on the top of the merit list, and selected those, which were not even present on the list,” he said.

The opposition lawmaker claimed that the anti-corruption establishment also detected those recruitment irregularities in a recent probe.

He waved the probe report in the air and offered its copies to other members.

“The anti-corruption establishment has found fake degrees and experience certificates held by those appointed to key positions of the Nowshera medical college,” he claimed.

Mr Wali also came down hard on the health department bureaucracy for ‘hiding irregularities’ in its formal response to the question about those appointments.

He requested the chair to refer his question to the relevant committee of the house for a detailed discussion and checking the credentials of those appointed in a dubious manner.

However, the health minister opposed the request saying the Provincial Inspection Team has already launched a probe into the matter, so there’s no need for sending it to the assembly committee on health.

The minister also claimed that the new leadership of the MTI Qazi Hussain Ahmad Medical Complex had been following the ‘right track’.

“The chairman of the MTI board of directors has contacted me on this [recruitment] issue and informed that those appointed in an irregular manner are being fired one by one,” he said.

The minister apologised to MPA Ikhtiar Wali over his department’s ‘unsatisfactory’ response on the matter and directed the special secretary (health) from there to issue ‘notices of displeasure’ to the officials responsible for it.

He directed the health department to share authentic information with the provincial assembly saying members of the cabinet face embarrassing situations over incorrect information.

“We come to this august house to serve the people and not to suffer embarrassment,” he said.

Earlier, the health department informed the assembly that a category-D hospital in Mattani area of Peshawar district had 87 sanctioned posts and 53 of them were filled, while no one was working on the rest.

The health department shared that information in response to the question of ANP member Salahuddin Khan Momand, who insisted that the people of nearby villages suffered during visit to the hospital due to the vacancies of doctors and paramedics.

The opposition lawmaker also said the hospital had no alternative system for smooth electric supply in case of prolonged power outages.

He insisted that electric supply to the hospital remained suspended for around 18 hours as the Pesco had subjected the area and others on the outskirts of the provincial capital to the excessive power outages.

Responding to the question, the health minister said that the Mattani hospital had a power generator but often the fuel was not there to operate it.

He said that there were four category-D hospitals in Peshawar and the health department had planned to operate them on the public-private partnership basis to improve their operations and patient care.

The chair adjourned the session until Monday.

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2022