Centre warned of countrywide protest over Pakistan Medical Commission bill

Medical professionals and the Sindh Health Department on Saturday opposed the recently passed Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) bill, saying that it would turn medical education into a money-minting business and give unlimited autonomy to private medical and dental colleges to fix fees and admit students.

The Pakistan Islamic Medical Association, the Pakistan Medical Association, representatives bodies of health professionals and other associations of medical professionals have already declared the bill passed by the parliament a violation of the constitution.

They said the step to abolish the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PMDC) would cause the standard of medical education to deteriorate and create problems for doctors serving abroad.

During a news conference at the Karachi Press Club on Saturday, the Young Doctors Association (YDA) condemned the federal government for getting the PMC bill passed from the parliament.

They said the apex court had already declared it null and void, but the present government was taking arbitrary and anti-people decisions by using its marginal majority in the parliament.

YDA Sindh Chairman Dr Umer Sultan and other medical professionals said doctors and medical associations of the country had unanimously rejected the bill. They vowed to launch a countrywide protest campaign if the bill was not revoked and the PMDC was not restored.

Claiming that the Centre was in contempt of court, as the bill had earlier been rejected by the Islamabad High Court, Dr Sultan censured the government.

He said it was not only taking anti-people decisions but was also playing into the hands of businessmen and medical education mafia. The PMC is being established only to make medical education unaffordable for the people of Pakistan, he added.

“We appeal to the chief justice of Pakistan and the supreme bodies of this country to take stock of the situation and prevent the Centre from taking arbitrary decisions, otherwise we would be compelled to launch a countrywide protest campaign against the government.”

‘A disaster’

Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho said the parliament in its joint sitting had passed the PMC bill, which was voted in when most of the opposition members were not present, and the same bill had earlier been rejected by a majority vote in the senate.

She said in a statement that the bill had circumvented the 18th constitutional amendment, which recognises health as a devolved subject. “Other than that, this bill will be a disaster for smaller provinces because it allows private medical colleges and universities to admit students irrespective of their domiciled province.”

She also said that around 5,000 doctors in Sindh passed out every year, which was still not enough for the province, adding that some 2,500 doctors graduated from public universities, which were allowed to observe the provincial domicile policy.

On the other hand, she pointed out, a larger number of doctors — around 2,700 — get medical degrees from private colleges and universities, as there was no domicile bar for private institutions under the piece of legislation.

“Through this bill, most of the seats in Sindh in the private sector will be filled by students from Punjab, and on graduating, these doctors will go back to serve their home province, causing a shortage of doctors in Sindh.”

Dr Azra said that under this act the federal government had also notified a Medical & Dental College Admission Test, or MDCAT, for students joining medical colleges and universities.

She said the entrance tests will be designed by the Centre based on the federal curriculum when each province has its own boards and its own curriculum, so this will put the students from the provinces at a disadvantage.

“Last year the closing percentage for exams was 93 per cent in Punjab and 73 per cent in Sindh — a difference of 20 per cent, which was even higher for other smaller provinces.”

She said this indicates that 20 per cent of Sindh’s private sector seats and a higher number in other smaller provinces will be filled by students from Punjab, adding that this clearly violates the rights of opportunities for people of smaller provinces.

Private colleges and universities are free to set their own fee structure, which opens the opportunity for the elite and moneyed to have access to professional education irrespective of merit, as private institutions are here to do business.

On the other hand, the Pakistan Association of Private Medical & Dental Institutions seems to be satisfied with the bill, but claims that the decision to pay remuneration for house jobs will leave them with no option but to increase fees.