PHC stays appointment of 1,100 doctors at hospitals

CJ observes KP govt destroyed health system through experimentation

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday stayed the appointment of 1,100 doctors in various government hospitals of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa till the next order of the court.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Daud Khan issued the stay order in a writ petition filed by the medical graduates who had obtained degrees from other countries.

The bench issued notices to secretary and director general Health and Services, Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and directed them to submit a reply in the case.

The doctors, including Dr Raheel and others who had obtained degrees from other countries, had challenged the appointments through their lawyer Khalid Rehman. The petitioners’ lawyer submitted that the medical graduates had got Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from another country.

He informed the bench that the provincial government had started the process of doctors’ appointments across the province without announcing or notifying its policy. He explained that 30 marks were allocated to the medical graduates possessing MD degree while 60 to 70 marks were being given to doctors who got their MBBS degrees from colleges in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The lawyer submitted that the doctors who got their MD degrees from other countries later obtained “no objection certificate” (NOC) and were registered by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) after proper process.

After hearing the arguments, Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel observed that the provincial government through new experiments had destroyed the health system in the province and made the poor patients suffer. He felt that through introduction of the new system in the health sector, the healthcare was worsening day by day in the hospitals rather than improving.

The petitioners’ lawyer, Khalid Rehman, argued due to the provincial government’s discriminatory practice, doctors having MD degrees remained at the bottom of the merit list and didn’t have any chance to be selected in recruitment process. He pointed out that in other provinces, there was no such discrimination and all medical graduates were given an equal opportunity in the appointments at the public sector hospitals.

He informed the bench that currently the provincial government had started the process to appoint 1,100 doctors at various public hospitals. He said the government on the pattern of the Public Service Commission had allocated 30 marks for the MD degree holders and 70 marks for local MBBS degree holders, adding that this was discriminatory and against the law.

The chief justice questioned as to why the provincial government adopted a discriminatory policy towards the MD degree holders when the PMDC had approved their degrees and allowed them an equal opportunity in recruitments.

Additional advocate general, Waqar Ahmad, opposed issuance of the stay order by the court and submitted that the government was appointing doctors for ensuring better healthcare services for the public. He argued that granting a stay order would affect the health delivery system at public hospitals.