PESHAWAR: The provincial government is likely to remove the existing board of governors of medical teaching institutions (MTIs) this week, according to sources.

“The provincial government is expected to identify the existing BoGs of MTIs and announce new ones by Tuesday. The government is facing bureaucratic hurdles in removing boards,” Prof Nausherwan Burki told Dawn.

He said that he was waiting for replacement of BoGs by the government but it was delayed due to health department’s laxity to deal with bureaucratic obstacles.

Prof Burki, the architect of Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Act (MTIRA) passed by the provincial assembly in 2015, said that he was in contact with the government and soon new BoGs would be announced after which he would come to resume work on his unfinished agenda of reforms in health sector.

Prof Nausherwan says bureaucratic hurdles delay removal of boards

The PTI-led coalition government enforced MTIRA in 2015 at Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar and kept it extending to the teaching hospitals and their affiliated medical and dental colleges in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

So far, the law has been implemented in 10 medical teaching institutions of the province to grant financial and administrative autonomy to them and free them from the bureaucratic and political control. The law is also meant to improve patient care at hospitals and develop medical education in the province.

Initially, government officers were made members of BoGs along with private individuals but later on only private members ran the respective MTIs. As per law, BoGs have powers to receive one-line budget from the provincial government and spend the same in accordance with their needs. These boards are authorised to demolish any post, create new one and re-designate positions due to which the provincial bureaucrats has lost their control over MTIs and only BoGs run the show.

Keeping in view the vast powers enjoyed by BoGs, the caretaker government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa first tried to do away with MTIRA and revive the old system and give control of the MTI-covered hospitals and colleges back to health department.

However, the caretakers were informed by legal experts that the law could be reversed only through provincial assembly, which had passed it. Subsequently, the provincial cabinet in March last year removed the BoGs and appointed new ones. These BoGs are still in place in the teaching hospitals of the province.

Sources said that health department was facing pressure from the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf to replace the boards. They said that health department was not able to remove the current BoGs of medical teaching institutions appointed by caretakers but issued two warnings to them to stay away from taking major decisions.

However, these directives of the health department have fallen on deaf ears as lately BoGs of MTIs Abbottabad and Bannu have made major decisions in violation of the orders.

“Such situation is the source of embarrassment for those, who initiated the reform process. Therefore, we want to appoint our own BoGs and resume work,” a senior PTI leader told this scribe.

He said that there was no point in delaying the replacement of boards as PTI had vast majority in the assembly and there was virtually no opposition.

He said that Prof Nausherwan Burki would likely assume the roles of MTI-Policy Board chief and chairman of BoG of LRH while some other people, who remained part of the PTI-era BoGs, would be selected again.

“We have also complained to PTI’s founder Imran Khan in jail to issue directives to Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to replace the BoGs. We are not sure if Imran Khan has issued directives to CM or not,” said the PTI leader.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024