PMC lays off staff members

Islamabad : The Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC), which had replaced the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) last year, has laid off 12 contractual staff members.

These employees received separate letters declaring that their contracts extended for two months have expired, so they don’t need come to office.

They included coordinators Dr Sarah Ali (information), Dr Maria Sameer (licensing), Dr Asiya Zaiban (exams), Dr Farhanaz Zaidi (education) and Salahuddin (verification), registration officer Mohammad Saqib, IT assistant Asfandyar Khan, and four others, including Adnan Rauf, Ahmed Raza, Abdul Manan and Nasir Nisar.

Insiders claimed that the management had assured Dr Sara, Dr Maria, Dr Asiya and Salahudin of appointment to senior positions, which had already been advertised.

They also claimed that the PMC had filled top administrative posts by hiring people from different backgrounds on pay and fringe benefits far more than what were offered by the erstwhile PMDC to its employees.

The sources said the PMC had hired six members for the monthly fat salary ranging between Rs1 million and Rs0.65 million and secretary for Rs0.4 million along with fringe benefits.

They claimed that the secretary assumed the office even before the position was advertised and that she possessed far less than the 15 years experience required by the law for the purpose.

When contacted, a senior PMC official said the management was striving to improve the commission’s administrative and financial affairs and the hiring and layoffs were part of those efforts.

He said the commission had 12 permanent and 40 contractual employees, who and their families were provided with health insurance.