Six medical colleges running illegally, Senate told

By Zulfiqar Ghuman

ISLAMABAD: The Senate was told on Friday that six private medical colleges in the country were operating without the recognition of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC) and that the Ministry of Health would amend the existing PM&DC Ordinance, 1962, to empower the government to close down such unrecognised institutions.

This information was provided to the Upper House by Muhammad Nasir Khan, the federal minister of health, in response to a question of Senator Syed Hidayatullah Shah who was seeking information regarding the unrecognised medical colleges.

The Islamabad Medical and Dental College; the Independent Medical College, Faisalabad; the Al-Huda Medical College, Lahore; the University College of Medicine and Dentistry, Lahore; the Jinnah Institute of Medical College, Peshawar; and, the Abbottabad International College are running without due recognition, the minister said.

Referring to the issue of self-finance schemes in the government medical and dental colleges, the minister said that the North West Frontier Provinces (NWFP) and Balochistan had done away with this scheme, while it is still effective in Punjab and Sindh.

Agencies add: The Senate on Friday was told that all diplomatic efforts were being made to ensure the early release of the 153 Pakistanis still languishing in various American jails.

Responding a question raised by an opposition member, Foreign Minster Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri said that the government was taking all possible steps to ensure the release of the detained Pakistani citizens.

The foreign minister said that 71 ambassadors were working in Pakistani embassies and missions abroad to deal with issues facing Pakistani citizens in foreign countries.

Replying to another question during the national assembly questions session, Jahangir Tareen, the Federal Industries Minister, said that the government had no control over private companies in reducing the prices of vehicles.

Nauraiz Shakoor, the science and technology minister, said that show cause notices had been given to companies manufacturing substandard mineral water and beverages. He said that the drinking waters of Multan and Hyderabad were found to be contaminated with arsenic. He also said that the government had initiated a water purification plan and an arsenic monitoring and mitigation project to deal with the problem in districts Multan and Hyderabad.

Home | National