KARACHI:Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Saturday criticized the interference of the Government of Sindh in the federally-controlled hospitals of Karachi which is damaging these important institutions.

Under the 18th amendment the control of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and some other important hospitals was handed over to the provincial government in 2011which resulted in rapid deterioration, it said in a statement.

The federal government took back partial control of three major hospitals in Karachi a year ago which included JPMC, National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, and National Institute of Child Health Karachi.

The decision didn’t go down well with the Sindh government and it started conspiracies and started to appoint doctors on a political basis in the hospitals located in Karachi, said Dr. Murtaza Mughal, President PEW.

He said that dirty tactics are being employed to get full control of JPMC which has put the future of doctors and health staff at stake.

He said that there is a 20 percent quota of Sindh in JPMC while 80 percent quota goes to the students of Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, erstwhile Fata and Pata but efforts are underway to allocate the whole quota to Sindh to promote the interests of a political party which is destroying the institution.

He noted that Jinnah faculty is being run on an ad-hoc basis for a decade, forty important posts are kept vacant for a decade, doctors in grade 18 are working as professors of grade 20 which amounts to playing with the future of students.

The political interference is destroying the biggest hospital of Pakistan as 61 medical officers out of which 35 are postgraduate have been deprived of promotions for ten years.

An insider said that the provincial government wants to make circumstances unbearable for the doctors so that they leave and politicians can appoint their cronies in their place.

Dr. Mughal said that the federal government should act to save the hospitals by taking full control of these hospitals before it’s too late.

He said that the budget of JPMC and other important hospitals should have been enhanced but it has been reduced by Rs1.26 billion which is unjustified and a violation of the rights of the people of Karachi.