LAHORE: Punjab Red Crescent Society (PRCS) office-bearers – retired Justice Sheikh Ahmad Farooq and Mahboob Qadir Shah – reportedly resigned from their posts of chairman and vice chairman of the PRCS management committee in a meeting chaired by Governor Sardar Saleem Haider on Friday.

The governor had called a meeting of the management committee following rifts among the honorary members over the controversy surrounding the issuance of honorarium to Mr Farooq as chairman of the board of governors for the Pak Red Crescent Medical College (PRCMC).

Mr Farooq, who simultaneously held two key offices, earlier resigned from the post of PRCMC chairman following disputes over the honorarium of Rs500,000 approved by the management committee during a meeting.

An official privy to the information said that during Friday’s meeting, the vice chairman and other members raised the issue of alleged irregularities and mismanagement reported in the teaching institute of the PRCS.

On the occasion, the official said the retired justice requested the Punjab governor to dissolve the existing management committee, as a majority of its current members had already served at least three tenures. According to Regulation 12(3) of the PRCS Regulations 2020, “no person is eligible to become a member of the management committee for more than three terms”.

He said the governor had constituted a committee during his previous meeting to look into the matters of the PRCS and insisted on the placement of the final report of the committee in the meeting.

On the other hand, Mahboob Qadir Shah raised the issue of Farooq holding two assignments simultaneously in the PRCS and PRCMC.

The official said Mr Shah informed the governor that the rules did not allow Farooq to take on the role of PRCMC board of governors chairman while already serving as chairman of the PRCS management committee.

He also pointed out during the meeting that PRCMC was not a commercial entity but rather a charitable organization, and requested an investigation into why a monthly honorarium of Rs500,000 was granted to Mr Farooq.

The official said that Mr Shah informed the Punjab governor about the no-confidence motion against Mr Farooq, stating that a majority of members had voted against him.

The matter of burning medicines worth millions of rupees by the medical institute was also brought to the governor’s notice, as well as an incident involving a lift in the teaching institute that left an employee disabled for life.

Following the detailed discussions, the governor promised to take appropriate steps to address the complaints and other issues the PRCS had been facing over the past year, the official said.

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2024