DERA GHAZI KHAN
Hundreds of students of Ghazi Khan Medical College protested against the Punjab government for not non-recognition of the college by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) even after six years of its establishment.
A large number of the medical students set up the protest camp in front of the main gate of the college with plea that the college is not being recognised by Pakistan Medical and Dental Council. They said that just three days are left to the start of the final professional examination but due to the unregistered status, their future is dark and the situation prevailing forced them to come on the roads to press for their genuine demands.
The students said that the provincial government had established four medical colleges some six years earlier in the four cities which include Gujranwala, Sahiwal, Sialkot and Dera Ghazi Khan.
Rest of the three medical college have been registered long ago with PMDC except Ghazi Khan Medical College which is is being ignored with career of the hundreds of the students at stake.
The students also registered their protest by singing national anthem in the protest camp set up at Jampur Road here on Wednesday while the president of Young Doctors Association Yasir Bhatti and Zohaib Buzdar also expressed their solidarity with the protesting students by participating in the camp and demanded the government for the immediate registration of the medical college.
The students including Suleman, Ameer, Ejazuldin, Riaz, Munawar and others said that the provincial government is forcing them to come on the roads leaving no other option. They alleged that bureaucracy is creating obstacles and playing with their career.
The students said their college is leading the rest of the medical colleges in the province but due to the shortage of the faculty members the students are being penalised and victimised. They announced that they would continue strike if it is not registered by PMDC immediately. They said that just after three days, their final professional examinations are also scheduled to start while they would not be allowed to join the house jobs till the college is registered.
The future of 600 students is at stake due to non-recognition of the college by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council and negligence of Secretary to Government of Punjab Health Department.
No competent authority has yet taken the issue seriously. A file of correspondence between college administration and Civil Secretariat Lahore has been filled by dozens of letters. Even it is also unbelievable that a written assurance given to students by former Secretary Health Jawwad Rafique Malik (September 2014 - December 2015) has been proved a false promise, the students said.
Protesting students said that they were assured in the presences of City MPA Syed Aleem Shah that their faculty will be completed as soon as possible by taking measures like ban on transfer/posting from Ghazi Khan Medical College DG Khan to other Medical Colleges and recruitment of faculty through contracts.
It was also assured that the matter of recognition of Ghazi Khan Medical College will be prioritised and the matter will be taken up with the newly constituted PMDC interim body but all dreams and promises have became nightmare for them as PMDC has not recognised the college yet.
When approached to college administration, Director Students Affairs Dr Shakeel Leghari said that due to acute shortage of medical faculty, PMDC has not recognised the colleges while first batch of student of 2010 would be passed out next week.