NA body to hold separate meeting on PMDC dissolution.

Byline: Ikram Junaidi

ISLAMABAD -- The National Assembly Standing Committee on National Health Services (NHS) has decided to hold a separate meeting on the dissolution of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC).

The committee met on Monday to discuss a number of issues and bills, but before the meeting began PPP MNA Dr Shazia Sobia Aslam Soomro suggested the committee discuss the PMDC, the dissolution of which has caused suffering to its employees and to Pakistani doctors at home and abroad.

President Dr Arif Alvi promulgated an ordinance on Oct 19 dissolving the PMDC and paving the way for a new organisation called the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC). The NHS ministry sealed the council building the next day and announced that the services of its 220 employees had been terminated.

The committee chair, Balochistan Awami Party MNA Khalid Hussain Magsi, agreed that the issue needed attention because of its sensitivity.

He said the meeting's agenda had been prepared by the time the dissolution was announced, adding: 'We will hold a separate meeting on the issue.'

Former council employees' protest enters 15th day

After consultations with other committee members, it was decided that the committee would meet on Nov 8 with a single-point agenda to discuss the PMDC.

Meanwhile, former PMDC employees have continued to protest outside the council's former building. Monday marked the fifteenth day of their protest.

Speakers said there was no precedent for the sacking of employees who had worked up to 35 years without a justification.

'Moreover, the PMDC was an independent and non-political body in which there was representation from the federal and provincial governments and elected...