ISLAMABAD: In what appears to be a strange development, employees of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) are lobbying for appointing their blue-eyed official on an important slot in Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU) despite the fact that PIMS has recently has been separated from SZABMU.
Well-placed sources told Pakistan Today that Basic Medical Sciences Dean Professor Ashok Kumar Tanwani Zaheer is going to retire on February 9, 2018, and the PIMS lobby is all set to appoint the replacement. They said that Professor Hassan Abbas Zaheer, a grade-20 official, emerged as the strongest candidate for the post of basic medical sciences dean despite not being a regular employee at SZABMU.
They were of the view that since the bill separating PIMS from the university has been passed from the National Assembly and Senate, therefore, PIMS will no longer be a constituent part of SZABMU. Therefore, only SZABMU employees are entitled to be appointed at the university only.
“Professor Hassan Abbas Zaheer is not a regular employee of the university and is in BS-20, while there are three professors of the university, Dr Farmanullah, Dr Moosa Khan and Dr Hamid, on a regular basis in BS-21,” they added.
In this regard, an academic council meeting was held on Monday to discuss the issue. However, due to a strong opposition from the SZABMU employees, the matter has been deferred and it has been stated that the appointment would be made on merit.
SZABMU Department of Psychology Chairman Professor Dr Farmanullah, in a letter to the university vice-chancellor, a copy of which is available with Pakistan Today, demanded that the agenda item regarding approval of the dean of basic medical science must be dropped from the academic council meeting.
The letter reads, “This request is based on the facts that as per the bill passed from the National Assembly and Senate, PIMS will no more be constituent part of the SZABMU, Islamabad and Professor Hassan Abbas Zaheer is not the regular employee of the university and is in BS-20, while there are three professors of the university on regular basis in BS-21.”
“As per the SZABMU Act, 2013, the dean shall be appointed by the syndicate from amongst the senior professors in the faculty,” the letter added.
He said that approval of the above agenda in a hurry will have short and long-term consequences. It is, therefore, requested that the above agenda items must be dropped till the fate of the university and PIMS is clear as per the bill passed from the NA and Senate.
However, SZABMU employees fear that despite being three grade-21 employees, a grade-20 official could be appointed since only his name was included in the minutes of the meeting.
According to the minutes of the meeting available with Pakistan Today, various important issues were included such as approval of Professor Hassan Abbas Zaheer as dean of basic medical sciences on the retirement of Professor Ashok Kumar Tanwani, approval of Orthopedics Head of Department Dr Rizwan H Malik as in-charge of accident and emergency department.
The university was established via an act of parliament in early 2013, and currently has 17 health institutions including a medical college and a number of other training institutions affiliated with it.
The first vice-chancellor of the university, Dr Javed Akram, retired this month after the completion of his four-year tenure. Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Abid Farooqi has been given charge as acting VC.
Despite repeated attempts, Minister for Capital Administration and Development Division Dr Tariq Fazl Chaudhry could not be reached for his comments on the issue.
