ISLAMABAD: The separation of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) from the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU) could lead to serious administrative issues for the university since most of the hospital’s employees are performing duties in the university, a senior official told Pakistan Today.
The national assembly has already passed the bill for separating PIMS from SZABMU based on the majority of votes despite severe opposition by the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP). If the senate passes the bill too, PIMS would be automatically be separated from SZABMU which could create a huge staff shortage in the university since a majority of the employees who belong to the hospital would eventually opt to join their parent organization.
The official said that the employees protested for the restoration of their perks and privileges so after the separation, they would come to the PIMS and that could obviously lead to a serious administrative problem for the university.
The official further said that the university management did not create a single seat in the university despite the fact that the two organizations could not remain as one for a long time since the employees of PIMS strongly opposed the move from the day one.
He went on to say that due to the merger, the status of PIMS’ employees who were civil servants, was gradually changed and quotas for their children in appointments and different courses were also withdrawn. They were also not getting plots from the Federal Government Housing Foundation as they were no longer considered government servants.
“The government is mainly responsible for the fiasco because, despite repeated protests from the PIMS employees for their due demands, no mechanism has been chalked out to deal with any crisis like situation,” he added.
The official observed that all moveable and non-movable assets of PIMS had been shifted to the university which not only ruined the running of both the institutions badly but also increased the burden on employees.
Talking to Pakistan Today, PIMS Employees Association Spokesperson Dr Asfandyar Khan said that a huge number of PIMS’ employees are working in the university so the separation of the hospital could create serious issues for the university.
He said that presently, the controller and registrar are of the university are employees of PIMS, adding that except the vice chancellor almost all the employees working the in university belonged to the hospital.
Asfandyar said that the university is currently using all of the hospital’s budget, staff and vehicles, so following the separation, the university’s management would have to make its own arrangements to run its affairs.
He blamed that the university management saying that they should have done some recruitment since the separation was inevitable, as no seat has been created during the last four years.
The government could face a strong challenge to get the bill passed from the senate due to the PPP, which has a good number of senators in the upper house and it strongly opposed the bill in the national assembly.
However, Asfandyar vowed that if the bill did not get passed by the senate during the current session, all healthcare services would be shut down again.
He said that the employees would come onto the roads because they have no other option, adding that it is the responsibility of the Capital Administration and Development Division Minister, Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry to table the bill in the on-going session of the senate and get it passed.
When this scribe contacted SZABMU’s vice chancellor, he said that the passing of the bill seeking the hospital’s separation from the medical university would not have any negative implication on the university’s affairs.
About the budget, he said that the university and the hospital have separate budgets, which were currently audited separately.
