Double medical seats for Fata students: NA panel expresses displeasure over PMC's refusal

ISLAMABAD: A National Assembly's panel on Thursday took strong notice of the Pakistan Medical Commission's (PMC) refusal to double the medical seats across the country for students of erstwhile Fata, and asked the PMC president to show up in its next meeting on Tuesday along with a notification or else face the legal course.

The National Assembly Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON), which met with Sajid Khan in the chair, discussed the matter in detail, as a representative of the PMC informed the committee of Oct 16, 2020 decision by the PMC board of governors that it cannot double the quota for the students belonging to erstwhile Fata contrary to the March 2020 federal cabinet approval of the increased quota of the students for next 10 years in the country's medical colleges.

The committee rejected the position taken by the PMC that it cannot double the quota with a view to maintain the standard of education, and that the provinces should accommodate the students belonging to the tribal districts within their own allocated seats without increasing any further.

The committee gave a deadline until Monday that the PMC should issue a notification to double the seats of the students belonging to ex-Fata, and asked the PMC's president to show up to its next meeting on Tuesday along with a notification or otherwise, the committee would move a privilege motion against him.

In his observations, the committee chairman said that the people of ex-Fata have been deprived of their fundamental right to education and they were left with no option but to join militancy. The PMC representative further told the committee that the PMC has neither any role to play the policy of increasing the quota for the students of ex-Fata nor its consent is required for it. She said that the public medical colleges are owned by the provincial governments, and any decision in this regard has to be taken in consultation with the provincial governments.

She further stated that the quota seats are included in the maximum allocated seat strength of each college and cannot be over and above the allocated strength, adding allowing over and above seats reduces the quality of education as result of placing additional pressure on the capacity of the college. The committee also expressed concerns over the residences of Afghan Commissionerate in Peshawar illegally occupied by unauthorised persons and its vehicles being used by unauthorised people.

The SAFRON secretary informed the committee that the chief commissioner for Afghan refuges has asked commissioner Peshawar to take necessary action to vacate the houses illegally occupied by the unauthorised persons, and also to recover the vehicles from the unauthorised persons.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021