ISLAMABAD: The All Employees PIMS Restoration Movement’s (AEPRM) struggle for the restoration of the status of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) has been fruitful as they have succeeded in getting the status of the hospital restored to what it was before the commencement of the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU) Act, 2013.
The establishment division wrote to Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) that the status of the PIMS hospital and Federal Medical and Dental College as the attached department of the CADD has been restored, said a notification available with Pakistan Today.
With the restoration of the PIMS’ status, its employees have now again become federal government workers and will be eligible to get all the perks and privileges as federal employees, which they were deprived of after the merger of the hospital with SZABMU back in 2013.
The employees of PIMS expressed joy over the restoration of the status of the hospital and termed it a great victory which was achieved by continuous efforts. Earlier, there was great disenchantment among the employees due to which there were constant protests at the hospital.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Dr Riaz Gujjar, a senior doctor at PIMS, said that it was a great victory for the employees of the hospital, as well as for the people because the hospital was being affected badly. He added that with the restoration of its original status, the hospital would regain its lost glory as it was once among the best hospitals in the country.
He further said that if the employees, with the support of the media, had not raised their voice, the hospital would have eventually gone toward privatisation.
Talking to Pakistan Today, PIMS Spokesperson Wasim Khawaja said that the long-standing demand of the hospital employees has eventually been fulfilled and they have become employees of the federal government.
The National Assembly passed the Shaheed Zulfiqar Bhutto medical University, Islamabad (Amendment) bill 2018, separating PIMS from SZABMU in November 2017, while the Senate passed it in January 2018, after which it was duly signed by the president as well.
According to the Act, “All the teaching posts and teaching faculty of the PIMS existing on commencement of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University, Islamabad (Amendment) Act, 2018 shall, subject to their option under sub-section (3B), stand transferred to the Federal Medical and Dental College.”
However, the delay on the part of the establishment division caused a great disenchantment among the employees and they even threatened to take to streets again for the restoration of the actual status of the hospital.
It is pertinent to mention here that during the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) led government, the Parliament had passed the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical University, Islamabad Bill 2013, under which PIMS was upgraded to a medical university and the hospital was attached to the university.
The legislation affected employees as they became employees of the university and were deprived of facilities such as the allotment of plots and government’s residences.