SAHIWAL: On the directions of Commissioner Dr Asif Tufail, the Sahiwal Medical College principal constituted a three-member external inquiry committee to investigate the deaths of 20 children—mostly newborns—reported over the past week at the pediatric ward of the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital, Pakpattan.

The committee is chaired by AMS Dr Muzamil Irfan and includes Dr Jaweria Saeed, senior registrar of the pediatric ward, and Ahmed Bilal, a biomedical engineer from the Sahiwal Teaching Hospital. It would probe the reported oxygen failure, explore any links between the fatalities and systemic shortcomings and assess the adequacy of the hospital’s emergency response. The committee is expected to submit its findings within five days.

This external investigation follows criticism of an earlier internal inquiry conducted on the directions of DHQ Hospital Pakpattan Medical Superintendent Dr Adnan Ghaffar. The internal committee had cleared the pediatric staff of any negligence except not maintaining proper documentation.

In a separate development, under the instructions of Health and Population Secretary Dr Nadia Saqib, five senior administrative officers from DHQ Hospital Pakpattan were relieved of their duties and were directed to report to the Project Management Unit (PMU), Lahore.

Those who reported today included Finance and Budget Officer Zahid Saeed, Procurement Officer Abdul Basit, HR and Legal Officer Khurram Kiyani, Audit Officer Mazhar Saeed, and Logistic Officer Waleed Bin Malik.

Dr Sohail, the CEO health speaking to Dawn, said that since the investigation was going on, it would be premature to fix responsibility for the children’s deaths on any specific department or individual.

UPLIFT PROJECTS: Pakpattan gets Rs2.91bn for 10 major development projects of heritage preservation, improvement in civic facilities and urban development.

The funds have been allocated for preserving historic Baba Waris Shah Mosque and Hujra in Malka Hans, as well as the traditional passage at Dhaki, Baba Farid Ganj Shakar’s shrine.

Specific allocations include Rs625m for heritage preservation, Rs356m for converting Old TB Hospital into a DHQ campus, Rs110m for a sports complex, and Rs1.051bn for carpeting of city roads.

PML-N MPA Chaudhry Javed said that Pakpattan, like other walled cities in Punjab, had a main route through Dhaki, leading to the Baba Farid’s shrine.

He added that the 17th century Waris Shah Mosque where the iconic Punjabi epic Heer Ranjha was written had sunk several feet below Malka Hans’ land level and urgently required preservation.

MPA Motia Khalid noted such initiatives would help foster religious and historical tourism in the region. It is said Rs116m, Rs100m, Rs60m , Rs358m, Rs45m were allocated for construction new academic block at VTI, sewerage and tuff tiling at Hota, a slaughterhouse, construction of new general bus stand and village Hota link road, respectively.

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2025