ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) has rehired 200 employees of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), who were earlier appointed under the defunct Medical Teaching Institution (MTI) Act on contractual basis.

However, the employees have demanded that they should be given the status of regular employees as they were appointed as regular workers under the MTI. They said they were considering approaching the court.

According to a notification, available with Dawn, the employees of Pims and Federal Medical College (FMC) appointed under the MTI Act 2021 will continue working as a stop-gap arrangement as per their service agreement and will draw their salaries from the budget as granted from MTI till the end of the financial year.“Pims and FMC will submit cases to the ministry for recruitment against the required posts on contractual basis for a period of two years with effect from 1st July 2023 or till the availability of regular incumbents from Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) whichever is earlier,” it stated.

“Pims and FMC will submit case to the ministry for recruitment against required posts on regular basis for onward submission to FPSC,” the notification added.

Employees demand regularisation, considering approaching court against decision

However, an employee, requesting not to be quoted, said that they were appointed by the MTI as regular employees and should be given regular status.

“Nowhere in the appointment letters, provided by MTI management, it was mentioned that we were appointed on contractual basis. Moreover, a number of employees, especially faculty members and senior doctors, were already getting hefty salaries but they left their jobs to get a regular status and joined Pims,” he said.

“The Ministry of Health and the administration of Pims have violated Article 264 of the Constitution of Pakistan by creating problems in the service conditions of the employees hired under MTI Act 2021. The services of the doctors hired under the MTI Act cannot be disturbed as they are neither temporary nor contractual employees as per provision of the service agreement reached between the employees and the hospital administration at the time of appointment,” he said.

Another official said Article 264 of the Constitution provided that “where a law is repealed or is deemed to have been repealed, by, under, or by virtue of the Constitution, the repeal shall not affect the previous operation of the law or affect any right, privilege, obligation or liability acquired, accrued or incurred under the law. Similarly, Section 6 of the General Act 1897 also gives protection to the operations of the repealed MTI Act 2021.”

“The provisions of the law do not support the stance of the Ministry of Health to initially offer contract to the doctor and to later regularise them through FPSC. Neither the Service Agreement nor the Pims Act 2023 provide any such condition as claimed by the ministry officials. We are considering approaching the court to seek justice and make the concerned officials accountable over this injustice,” he said.

In November 2020, President Dr Alvi had promulgated the MTI ordinance under which Pims was to be run through a board of governors (BoG). The board members were appointed and notified by the ministry of NHS on the recommendation of a search and nomination council. Even though the employees protested against the ordinance, it sailed through the parliament. Later, some appointments were made under MTI Act 2021. The current [PDM] government passed the MTI Repeal Bill and sent it to the president to get his nod but he returned it with a suggestion to reconsider it. So, the government was left with no choice but to pass the bill again in a joint session of parliament to make it an Act of law. The bill was again passed on December 20, 2022 in a joint sitting of the parliament house.

Over 200 employees, including 44 professors, associate professors, assistant professors and casualty medical officers, 168 charge nurses and six members of the management committee, were appointed during the tenure of MTI and they got the salaries till December 2022 and then, although allowed to continue working, could not get their salaries as the management said the MTI was abolished.

Because of the recent notification, the salaries would be paid to the employees till June this year and then they will get a two-year contract.

However, Special Secretary Ministry of National Health Services Mirza Nasiruddin Mashhood has already said that initially the contracts will be given to the employees and then they will be regularised through FPSC.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2023