The Sheikh Zayed Medical College (SZMC), Lahore has been charging annual fee of Rs 500,000 from its students, despite receiving 100 percent funding from the government, Pakistan Medical Association officials alleged on Saturday.
The PMA office bearers have termed the fee being charged by the government medical college, equal to the private sector medical colleges, as sheer injustice to the students.
The PMA officials said that the association had raised the matter with the Prime Minister Secretariat, which referred the matter to the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) and the Federal Health Ministry. The said departments put the responsibility of taking action on each other and forwarded the matter to the cabinet division secretary, who, according to the Rules of Business 1973, was responsible for running the affairs of the SZMC, Lahore.
The PMA’s demand was now lying on the table of the cabinet secretary, who was not interested in taking a decision on the matter, the PMA officials alleged. The PMA announced to raise the matter in the Lahore High Court in a petition to be filed through Noshab A Khan advocate. The PMA has appealed to parents of all SZMC, Lahore students to register themselves with the PMA to become a part of the movement.
