When Zulfikar Ali Bhutto inaugurated Chandka Medical College (CMC) he dreamt of higher health standards for the people of Sindh. Since its inception, the college has been overshadowed by politics. There came a time when carrying guns, firings, threats to teachers and administration were the norm. At that crucial time, the appointment of Surgeon Sikandar Ali Shaikh as the principal was the only bright spot in the dark picture. He raised the standards, emphasised on quality education and for a brief period CMC blossomed and was compared with the top medical institutes of Sindh. His efforts played an important part in upgrading the college, in 2009, to the university, Shaheed Muhtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University.
Soon after, he was transferred; the new administration could not uphold his standards and the development abruptly halted. Despite PPP's government, even the building of the university could not be constructed. Many issues have been grossly mishandled. Academics have been on a downward trend. Merit has been neglected and the appointments have mostly been political. CMC has become the laughing stock nationwide and is in news for all the wrong reasons.
Few days back CM Sindh advised changing the Vice Chancellor, and a wave of happiness spread, everyone hoped that the bad days would end but alas these were only words! PPP seems to have worked really hard to destroy the respected name of the Bhutto family, but this is the last straw, to leave the university in tatters that has been named in the honor of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto and that too in her homeland?
DR. SAJID HAMEED,
Larkana, July 27.