The National Assembly Standing Committee on Defence on Monday unanimously rejected the National University of Medical Sciences (Amendment) Bill-2016, declaring it ‘unnecessary’.
The bill, passed by the Senate, was moved by MNA Azra Fazal Pechuho in the National Assembly as a private member bill.
The amendment had suggested the addition of a new section in the Act that “Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the provisions of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council Ordinance, 1962 (XXXII of 1962), shall apply to the National University of Medical Sciences”.
Chairman Shaikh Rohale Asghar, after taking the briefing from the committee members, representatives of Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), observed “it is not needed.”
The HEC and PMDC representatives apprised the body that there already existed a robust mechanism to ensure quality and infrastructure standard of the universities.
Currently, they said, nine different accreditation councils were operating in the country to keep a check on universities under the model universities governance ordinance.
“All councils regularly check the performance of universities on yearly basis,” they said.
The committee also asked the defense authorities to arrange visits for the members to the line of control, Pak-Afghan border in Chaman and Siachen to assess the ground situation, besides briefing national security issues.
Among others, the meeting was attended by MNAs Sardar Muhammad Shafqat Hayat Khan, Saeed Ahmed Khan Manais, Lt Col (retd) Ghulam Rasul Sahi, Syed Mustafa Mehmud, Kishwer Zehra, Muhammad Ijaz-ul-Haq and the mover Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, in addition to senior officers of the Ministry of Defence, HEC and PMDC.
