The current Executive Committee including the President and Vice President of the PMDC (Pakistan Medical and Dental Council) have been declared illegal by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (MNHSRC). The Deputy Director of the Ministry - Taj Wali Khan has recently submitted a report to the National Assembly, which states that “The federal government has not notified the PMDC executive committee including their president and vice president. The PMDC is an autonomous body governed by its own rules and regulations and the federal government would accept the legitimate and lawful officials. All officers/officials involved in any illegal act will have to face legal proceedings under the rules of the organisation,” This report was prepared after MNA Nasir Khan Khattak had raised questions regarding the legal status of the current executive body of PMDC. The Auditor General of Pakistan had also reported earlier about an embezzelment of Rs 920 million was evident in the affairs of the PMDC during the last five years. Young Doctors Association (YDA) of Punjab called a press conference to request the federal government for immediately nominating an interim managerial setup for the PMDC which should ensure transparent elections for the council. Dr. Amir Bandesha, a member of the YDA stated that; “It has been established now that the current PMDC body is illegal, so no time should be wasted in holding fresh elections. He also stated that: “The illegal body was playing havoc with the medical education in Pakistan. “It has increased seats at three private medical colleges from 100 to 150. It also increased seats of Akhter Saeed Medical College from 100 to 150 but the University of Health Sciences (UHS) refused to register the new students this year”. The registration of many courses by the College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPSP) had not been renewed for 10 months. Registration cases of many doctors, especially young doctors are pending because they stood against the PMDC mafia. We want the federal government to immediately take note of this situation and declare these acts null and void.” Another member of the YDA - Dr Shabbir Chaudhry has stated that: “The acting body of the PMDC on August 5, 2013, held PMDC elections in violation of the court directions. Those in the acting body also contested the elections. We went against this in court… the court ruled in our favour. The ministry had now also submitted that it had not notified the elected members and “the election was not held all over the country and was illegal.”
