Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Patients continued to bear the burnt of the ongoing protests by Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) employees, demanding separation of the hospital from Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU).

As many as 4,000 medical and non-medical employees of the hospital have been boycotting their duties for the past six days. They daily gather outside the main Out Patient Department (OPD) of the hospital, holding placards and banners in their hands, containing slogans in favor of their demands. They chant slogans against the authorities.

According to details, during the tenure of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government, the parliament passed a bill: Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical University Islamabad Bill 2013. After the passage of the bill, PIMS was upgraded to a medical university.

The status of the employees of the hospital remained as civil servants. However, no new appointments were made for the upgraded university. The administration offered hospital’s employees to change their service structures into university employees. However, they rejected the offer.

During the past week, the main OPD remained closed. The main emergency and critical care units continued to function despite the protests.

However, the protesters have threatened to lock down the whole hospital, including its all main gates from tomorrow (Monday) in case their demands were not accepted.

The employees appealed to Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to sort out the issue immediately.

According to available information, around 7,000 patients visit the hospital for getting medical treatment daily. A majority of these patients belong to the various surrounding areas of the capital, including Rawalpindi, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Murree, Abbottabad, Taxila, Attock, Chakwal, Jehlum and parts of Sargodha Division.

The hospital works under the Ministry of Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD). According to the documents available with Daily Times, in October 2016, SZABMU’s apex decision-making body, the Syndicate, had passed a resolution for the separation of the university from the hospital and forwarded it to the CADD for further proceeding. However, no progress has been made so far so far.

Sources in CADD said that CADD Minster Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry had not taken the issue seriously. “The minster, instead focusing on his job, likes to spend most of his time in TV talk shows to defend his party’s senior leadership. This is the actual reason why PIMS has not been separated from the university yet,” said another official requesting anonymity.

On Friday, Dr Tariq Fazal had met Federal Law Minster Zahid Hamid to seek possible legal solutions of the issue. “However, the meeting yielded no positive results. This is the first such meeting the minister has bothered to hold over the issue since October, 2016, when the issue first surfaced,” sources said.

Member National Assembly (MNA) Tahir Iqbal also tabled a bill in 2014 in the lower house of parliament to separate the hospital from the university. However, it is still pending.

Moreover, it is not the first protest of PIMS employees. They have been protesting from time to time since 2013, demanding that the hospital’s former status as a government hospital be restored.

When contacted, Vice Chancellor Dr Javed Akram said that he had no prerogative to change the status of the hospital.

To a question, he said that there was no doubt that the patients were suffering badly due to the protests. “The ministry and other authorities should take action in this regard,” he said.

Published in Daily Times, October 8^th 2017.