Islamabad-The Senate Sub-Committee on National Health Services and Regulations (NHSR) on Tuesday recommended postponing the elections of Homeopathy Council until the verification of data.
The meeting was chaired by the Convener Senator Kulsoom Parveen while senators including Dr Ghous Muhammad Khan Niazi and Ashok Kumar also attended the meeting.
The meeting discussed the reasons for delay of the election of National Council for Homeopathy and for the correction of names and addresses of the doctors registered with the council on its website in the light of Sub-Committee’s recommendations.
The convener directed the council administrator to stop the process of announced elections of the council until the data of the registered voters was verified.
The council had announced the 30th October for the elections but a number of stakeholders including affiliated Homeopathy institutions and contesters had expressed concerns on the available voter lists.
The chair directed the council to verify the names and addresses of the voters before holding the elections to make it free and fair.
The committee also recommended the verification and attestation of Secondary School Certificate (SSC) of the voters and candidates appearing in the elections.
The chair also directed to prepare the voter list with accurate addresses and then present it before the sub-committee.
Earlier, Homeopathy Pharmaceutical & Chemist Association Pakistan (HPCAP) proposed before the committee that present examining body must be de-notified and impartial five members body be notified to work with administrator NCH till next elections.
It also said, in past five years more than 50 per cent certificates of matriculation with science are submitted with bogus photocopies to obtain the enrolment with the NCH.
The association pleaded the verification of these entrance certificates on priority from respective boards. HPCAP also requested the committee to renew the data through DHO offices countrywide to enable all homeopaths to confirm the correctness of their names, father name, ID, number the accuracy of the addresses.
HPCAP head Amanullah Bismil said that more than 70 per cent data is entered in NCH record with the wrong addresses and the elections must be held after the verification of data.
He also said that an advertisement in the national dailies cannot serve the purpose to collect the data as more than 90 per cent of the homeopathic practitioners are practicing in the periphery and remote areas and 10 per cent in the urban areas.
