HAMID KHAN WAZIR
The government’s dilly-dallying tactics to settle the long-pending issue of separating Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU) is affecting the working environment of the hospital.
A senior official in Ministry of Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) on the condition of anonymity, told Pakistan Today that the government was in no mood to administratively separate PIMS and SZABMU.
He said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif signed a summary separating the PIMS and Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU) under duress of Supreme Court on November 5, 2016.
He said that the government was under tremendous pressure because the Supreme Court had given time till November 7 to settle the issue, as the university controversy put the future of over 90 per cent of the employees of PIMS at risk because they were not being considered as civil servants.
While hearing a suo motu regarding corruption in purchase of medicines and equipment at Polyclinic Hospital, Islamabad on September 27, a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali issued directives to the federation to separate the PIMS from SZABMU.
The SC in its order observed, “PIMS hospital needs to be segregated from the university as by the act of the university, the status of the employees of PIMS as civil servants cannot be changed to that all the employees of the university.”
However, the official said that the government even changed the already agreed draft and resorted to delaying tactics aimed at safeguarding interests of some blue-eyed guys.
It is pertinent to mention here that the parliament passed the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical University Islamabad Bill 2013 during the tenure of the PPP-led government after which PIMS was upgraded as a medical university and the hospital was affiliated with it.
A senior doctor at PIMS expressed disappointment that the government was little serious to resolve the issue despite the fact it was severely affecting the working environment of the largest public hospital of the federal capital.
He said that the government merely delayed the issue to protect the Vice-Chancellor Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical University Javed Akram, who is brother of PML-N MNA Pervez Malik.
“PIMS employees are little bothered to perform their duties, as the controversy gives birth to the culture of leg-pulling and politicking”, he added. Talking to Pakistan Today, Minister of State of Capital Administration and development Division (CADD) Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhy, said that the premier has already signed the summary regarding segregating university from the hospital. However, he said that the all the stakeholders would be taken into confidence in this regard so as to resolve the issue once for all.
To a question, he said that the issue would be resolved within days instead of months, as there was no major obstacle. Another senior doctor said that the controversy would not be resolved because unfortunately the employees were widely divided over the issue at present.
He said that the senior doctors have little problems presently because they were well-aware of the roles; however the young employees of the hospital would face great problems, as the hospital management would treat them as private employees not as civil servants.
The doctors demanded that the government should resolve the issue on war-footing because due to the controversy the poor patients were suffering the most.
