KARACHI, Sept 15: City doctors registered with the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) are of the view that it is the federal health ministry which is failing to notify the name of a member elected from the constituency of general medical practitioners of Sindh.

They alleged that the delay in the notification was serving the cause of vested interests and there was a need to move the courts as well.

Polls for the election of a member from the constituency of registered medical practitioners of Sindh were held on August 6, 2007, while a five-member election committee of the PMDC declared Dr Shershah Syed -- who secured the highest number of votes -- the winner after a meeting on Aug 7.

Interviews with the quarters concerned show that the health ministry is sitting not only on a recommendation pertaining to the notification of Dr Syed in the official gazette, but is also failing to notify the names of some other elected members from the general medical practitioners’ constituency.

However, according to a source, the ministry on Friday notified the name of Dr Navaid Rashid, who was elected from the constituency of dental practitioners of Sindh and Balochistan on Aug 6.

When contacted, PMDC Secretary (Officiating) Dr Ahmed Nadeem told Dawn that he, as per the provisions of the PMDC Ordinance of 1962, had forwarded the name of Dr Shershah to the health ministry immediately after receiving the minutes of the election committee.

In reply to a question, he clarified that the federal health ministry was the competent authority on the issue of notification of elected council members’ names.

Earlier, a Karachi-based senior office-bearer of the PMDC had said that the notification of the successful candidate from Sindh had been suspended perhaps in view of the fact that the federal ministry had been approached by certain stakeholders disputing the results given by the PMDC election committee at Karachi on Aug 7.

Dr Nadeem said that he, too, had received a letter from the health ministry, which had referred to the demands of some quarters that the election committee should have also counted the votes cast via postal balloting in 2005.

He said that he was also included in the election committee meant for Sindh and could say that counting was done strictly in line with the rules and the results were declared officially on Aug 7.