Tribal districts: Construction of three medical colleges planned, NA body told

ISLAMABAD: A National Assembly panel was informed on Tuesday by senior officials of the health department of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government that construction of three medical colleges has been planned in the tribal districts on priority basis.

The National Assembly Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) which met Sajid Khan in the chair, was given a detailed briefing by senior officials of the health department of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government on the steps taken regarding the provision of health facilitates in tribal districts.

With regard to construction of medical colleges in ex-FATA, the official informed the committee that a consultant has already been hired on the direction of the Chief Minister Mahmood Khan for preparing a feasibility report with regard to the establishment of three medical colleges in tribal districts on priority basis.

The committee recommended that the said medical colleges should be constructed on the most feasible sites in erstwhile FATA.

With regard to shortages of doctors and paramedic staff in the tribal districts, the committee was informed that 25 specialist doctors out of 100 and 50 emergency medical officers out of 219 have been appointed under Accelerated Implementation Program (AIP) schemes and posted in various hospitals of tribal districts.

It was further informed that 300 medical officers will also be recruited by 20th of this month who would be posted in various hospitals of the tribal districts.

The committee, however, recommended that make functional all the hospitals with provision of all the requisite equipments and ensure the attendance of doctors and paramedic staff in the hospitals of across tribal districts.

The Committee further recommended transferring the notorious staff and posting well reputed local doctors/paramedic staff in the hospitals of tribal districts.

The panel also discussed the issue of allocation of seats in medical and dental colleges for the students of FATA and Balochistan under the project “Opportunities of Higher Education for Balochistan and FATA Students”.

The panel unanimously made recommendation for consideration of federal cabinet that included direction to the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC), the Higher Education Commission (HEC) as well as provincial governments to admit the students from ex-FATA and Balochistan under the project on an immediate basis.

The chairman and committee members expressed displeasure over the continued delay in accommodation of the students belonging to ex-FATA and Balochistan on the quotas allocated through the decision of the federal cabinet.

The meeting was attended by Gul Zafar Khan, Mohammad Iqbal Khan, Abdul Shakoor Shad Gul Dad Khan, Aliya Hamza Malik, Shaheen Naz Saifullah, and Ayesha Rajab Ali, and senior officials of the ministry.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021