FAISALABAD, Sept 20: A tug of war is going on between the Punjab Medical College principal and the Allied Hospital medical superintendent as the former has asked the latter to also work as emergency director though its present in-charge is performing his job without any blame, it is learnt.

The orders have been issued in response to a letter sent by MS Dr Bashir Ahmed a couple of days ago in which he asked PMC principal Dr Asghar Ali Randhawa to vacate the office established on the hospital premises some five years ago.

It is learnt that the office had been given to the chief executive officer in 2003 who was assigned the task to look after the affairs of the Allied, DHQ hospitals and the PMC.

Considering it useless, the government abolished this post and delegated most of the powers to the PMC principal that enabled him to get the office.

Although the principal has a lavish office at the PMC, he is also holding the office at Allied Hospital, which infuriated the MS.

Dr Bashir is the second embattled MS who is working with the principal appointed by the PML-Q government by superseding few senior professors.

Earlier on April 23 last, the Punjab government, on the recommendation of Mr Randhawa, had suspended from service MS Dr Khalid Mehmood.

Dr Khalid was charged with dereliction of duty as a newborn baby was kidnapped from the gynecology ward of the Allied Hospital.

The newborn baby was with his grandmother at the OPD for some medication when an unidentified man, posing himself as a staff member, had taken away the baby.

Sources said that Dr Khalid was suspended immediately without going into the matter.

Dr Bashir and Randhawa are also engaged in a similar battle and both are trying to knock out each other, sources said and added the MS issued a notice to the principal to vacate the office, but he seems in no mood to follow Dr Bashir’s orders.

They said Mr Randhawa in a latest move had replaced emergency ward director Dr Tariq Farooq with Dr Bashir only to ‘teach him a lesson’.

The principal had appointed Dr Farooq about one year ago because of his differences with professor of surgery Dr Riaz Hussain Dhab. The latter was also in the run for the principal slot like Mr Randhawa, but he failed to get sound political support.

Sources said that most of emergency visitors let loose their indignation even on minor issues and staged protest demonstrations to invite the attention of higher authorities through media.

They said the principal was hatching a conspiracy against the MS to disgrace him by assigning him an additional charge of the emergency director.

They said the emergency director had to perform round-the-clock job and it would not be possible for the MS to spare time for this important assignment.

Differences of both politically influential persons would affect patients of the emergency ward which was working effectively, they said.

Earlier, they said, the principal had removed three additional directors who were assisting the emergency director round-the-clock.

Now the principal has appointed supervisory medical officers without any extra pay, but the emergency director has been getting extra pay.

Dr Bashir dispelled the impression that he had any differences with the principal and that his new assignment was part of his duty.

He said Dr Farooq, who was performing additional duties at the emergency ward, would now take charge of his new assignment at the District Headquarters Hospital.

Dr Bashir said that he would not receive additional honorarium for this job.