The bill has already been passed by the Upper House of the Parliament and since there was nothing in the Charter of the university with respect to PMDC. It also suggested that the council should have powers to look into all the issues of the university and for that purpose the charter of the university should be amended.
The NUMS is generally considered as a military-run organisation and institutions such as Army Medical College, Armed Forces Post Graduate Medical Institute, College of Nursing and Army College of Veterinary Sciences are affiliated with it. At the outset of the meeting, Dr Pechuho (the mover of the bill) said that as long as the word PMDC is not included in the Charter of the NUMS, it will not be possible for the Council to fully implement its decisions.
Chairman National Assembly Standing Committee on Defense Shaikh Rohale Asghar said that he came to know that the Senate committee did not invite the officials of PMDC and Higher Education Commission (HEC) so he decided to invite them to get input from them. "Moreover I believe that there is no need to pass the bill as the NUMS is already being controlled by the council," he added.
President PMDC Dr Shabbir Lehri sharing his viewpoint said that it does not make a difference whether or not PMDC is mentioned in the charter of any university. "We are empowered to hold visits and take decisions about the university and institutions affiliated with it. PMDC is the only controlling authority for the medical institutions and we have no problem with it," he said.
Executive Director HEC Professor Dr Arshad Ali said when ever a university or institute is established, a team of experts is made to look into it and it makes sure that there is no deficiency. Ijaz ul Haq, Makhdoom Syed Mustafa Mehmood, Kishwer Zehra, Sanjay Perwani and other members of the committee also suggested rejecting the bill due to which the chair announced that the bill is rejected.
Kishwer Zehra of MQM said that there is a need to have a fulltime foreign minister because it has become very difficult to understand the answers given by the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs. Rohale Asghar immediately intervened and said that it was unfortunate whenever ministers are appointed, the government faces criticism that the cabinet is very big and when they are not appointed, criticism about unavailability of ministers starts. It is pertinent to mention that some members including Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, Dr Shireen Mazari and Shafqat Mahmood did not participate in the meeting on Monday.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017