ISLAMABAD: National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Health on Monday raised concerns over halting promotions of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) officers despite getting clearance by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

During the meeting, held under the chairmanship of MNA Dr Mahesh Kumar Malani, members raised concerns that even the officers whose FIA inquiries had been cleared were still not promoted.

It is worth mentioning that last year FIA had exonerated five officers of the PMDC who were accused of provisional recognition of 15 medical and dental colleges in violation of a top court order.

The report claimed that the colleges were provisionally recognised during the tenure of the defunct Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC), and the PMDC officers had nothing to do with the entire process. The officers included former PMDC registrar Dr Suleman Ahmed, former acting registrar Azhar Ali Shah, Sara Rubab from the legal department, Wasim Imrani and Farhad Mirza.

The committee questioned why their promotions were halted despite getting clearance from the FIA.

The registrar, PMDC, assured the committee that promotions would proceed swiftly, with due process and personal hearings.

Later, the committee was briefed on the conduct of the Medical and Dental Colleges Admission Test (MDCAT) 2025-26, and members discussed the weightage distribution between matriculation, intermediate and MDCAT examinations. They criticised manipulation in board examinations and proposed increasing MDCAT weightage to ensure transparency.

It was decided to convene an in-person meeting with provincial health departments, education boards and vice chancellors in future to finalise reforms for future MDCAT exams. The committee also discussed proposals for legislative amendments to reduce the current validity of MDCAT from three years to one or two years.

It is worth noting that currently 50 per cent weightage is given to the MDCAT, 40pc to intermediate and 10pc to matriculation.

The committee discussed the grievances of foreign students from Kyrgyzstan. It directed the PMDC to issue a formal circular to the council to hold a meeting in this regard and resolve the matter within three days by granting provisional licenses and allowing students to register for the NRE without further delay. It was further resolved that, in case of non-compliance, strict action would be taken against the PMDC.

The meeting was attended by MNAs, Dr Shazia Sobia Aslam Soomro, Ms Sabheen Ghoury, Ms Zahra Wadood Fatemi, Ms Farah Naz Akbar, Dr Shaista Khan, Dr Nikhat Shakeel Khan, Dr Darshan, Ms Aliya Kamran, Mr Shahram Khan, Raja Khurram Shahzad Nawaz, Shabbir Ali Qureshi, Azim ud Din Zahid Lakhwi, Dr Nisar Ahmed.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2025