ISLAMABAD: The government in the Senate Friday strongly defended the Pakistan Medical Council (PMC) Ordinance promulgation and promised to ultimately bring a bill while the joint opposition termed it even worse than the previous one aimed at playing havoc with medical profession.
Senators from both sides of the aisle during the last sitting of the (opposition) requisitioned session, spoke on the PMC and packing up of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC) with some opposition senators calling it a coup-like step. Lawmakers also expressed their views on the ‘ban on media and the state of national economy’.
Opposition senators contended, quoting from the Supreme Court judgement, that it would be a fraud and subversion of the democratic process to re-promulgate an ordinance, which had already been disapproved by the Parliament.
Leader of the House Syed Shibli Faraz, who wound up the debate, assured the House that there would be ultimately a bill on PMC and that it would apply to all institutions, including the Army, dispelling the impression created by some opposition senators. He said the government move was to match the modern day challenges while PM&DC was a den of corruption and a mafia had taken its control.
Leader of Opposition and PML-N Senator Raja Zafarul Haq castigated the government for not doing normal legislation and resorting to issuance of ordinances. He feared the PMC ordinance would give free hand to private medical colleges to charge at will and there would be no mechanism to ensure merit.
He asked the government to withdraw the ordinance and opt for routine legislation, as PMC in present shape would serve a telling blow to the medical sector.
Dr Sikandar Mandhro of the PPP traced the history of PM&DC, which goes back to the pre-partition era and said that the Council had been doing brilliant service to the nation and doctors had served as physicians to former US presidents Jimmy Carter and George W Bush.
He pointed out that it was like coup when walls of the Council were scaled to secure its record and then the employees were sent packing with one stroke of the pen. He noted that there would be no doctors in the proposed medical commission and all the three would be appointed by the prime minister. He said there would be no representation from the provinces in PMC. He said three standards had been envisaged for public, private and Army medical colleges. “It is a bid to commercialise this profession and this will be a blow to Pakistani doctors abroad,” he cautioned.
The JI Senator Professor Mushtaq Ahmad regretted that the PM&DC had been disbanded without having carried out survey, consultation and research. He noted that in last 12 months, 14 ordinances had been issued and the Parliament had been turned into an ordinance depot. He said the PMC members would be appointed by the prime minister with representation also from the military but the law would not apply on the military medical colleges.
Speaking on economy, he proposed that tomato should be declared Pak currency, as one kg tomato could fetch two dollars, the while the FBR revenue collection shortfall in first three months had reached Rs163 billion and the SBP, which earned profit last year, went into losses. He termed the promises of giving 10 million jobs and building 5 million houses as a fraud.
Senator Shibli Faraz clarified that the first ordinance promulgated in January this year was an amendment in the PM&DC ordinance and now through PMC, a regulatory body, keeping in view the changing times, had been envisaged, as medical profession had been taken over by irresponsible people and this had greatly affected the standard of doctors. He urged the opposition to bring proposals and suggestions when the PMC bill would be tabled in the House and then referred to the standing committee concerned.
He explained why the government had to promulgate ordinances and said it was because of the non-cooperation from the opposition, enjoying majority in the Senate. “We expected and look forward even now for cooperation from the opposition on legislation regarding public interest and to provide relief to weak segments,” he said.
Referring to the opposition’s resistance even to pro-people legislation, he said that the government wanted to increase the number of judges in Islamabad High Court (IHC) in view of burden on it, but it failed to secure support of the opposition. He added that even a bill on women inheritance was opposed in the House.
He said there was nothing unconstitutional about promulgation of ordinances. He said the PPP during its previous tenure promulgated 104 ordinances and PML-N 46. Speaking about economy, he said the PTI government believed in serving the masses and reforming various sectors.
Regarding price hike, he said the government was taking measures to improve supply of the essential items to facilitate people and noted that the discontinuation of trade with India had led to supply issue to in some ways, as in off season, Pakistan imported vegetables from Indian East Punjab.
The PTI Senator Nauman Wazir said while the PPP was architect of the 18th Amendment and according to it, education was a provincial subject, but it was being debated in the Senate. He gave credit to the Army for crushing the menace of terrorism and praised PML-N government for dealing with the energy crisis and said that it was the PTI government, which encouraged people to use electricity during winter by rationalising rates from Rs22-24 per unit to Rs10.97, much to the relief of consumers for total generation capacity stood at 33,000 megawatts.
He said that the situation of circular debt would also improve by December next year due to the government policies. He added that there had been significant improvement in ease of doing business and in PIA was now in operating profit while current account deficit had come down and trade went up and imports registering fall.
