Dow medical college house officers complain
DUHS house officers complain of injustice
Karachi, Aug 25: After working tirelessly for two months at their house jobs, Dr Samiha Aleem and
all other house officers, were told that they will not be receiving any pay for
the work that they spent time over. They should have received Rs12,000 per
month. Dr Aleem's circumstances, in particular, are most unenviable. She
was seven months pregnant and was forced to go to work, because her house job
had started three months earlier than expected. According to Dr Aleem,
her batch at the Dow Medical College (DMC) was told by Dow University of Health
Sciences (DUHS) Vice-Chancellor (VC) Dr Masood Hameed that they will be starting
their house jobs three months earlier than the original date. "Dr Hameed
told us that we should not 'waste three months' and should start our house jobs
in May. We found, however, that our duties were overlapping with the house
officers belonging to the previous year's batch. At least 30 officers ended up
working in the same ward," she said. Another graduate, Dr Ali Omair, also
part of the students' protest concerning this issue, said that the VC
had assured the students that they will be paid by the DUHS if not by the Sindh
government for the three months extra that they put in. "The pay usually
always arrives late for house officers anyway," said Dr Ali. "This, however, was
different. It developed into a crisis after three months when we discovered that
no one was willing to pay us. The government said that the DUHS administration
should have upheld their promise, and meanwhile, the VC refused to take the
matter seriously. They keep blaming each other." Dr Ali says that Civil
Hospital Karachi (CHK) Medical Superintendent (MS) Dr Saeed Qureshy had also
confirmed earlier that the disbursement of the salaries should have been
properly managed by the DUHS administration and the entire blame should not
simply be laid at the doorstep of the Sindh health department, because this was
entirely the DUHS administration's decision. "The CM has currently
approved the flow of salaries, but I always knew that this problem would arise,"
Dr Qureshy said. "You know that these things proceed at a slow pace. I told DMC
Principal Dr Salahuddin that the Sindh government could not release funds for
both batches at the same time. They have budget constraints. Now the students
will get their pay by September but in two parts." However, the Sindh
health department, on the other hand, has claimed that the money has already
been released. Health Secretary Hashim Raza said that the money had
been released "around two weeks ago," and that it had reached the Dow finance
managers by now. "We released around Rs18million for 521 students a while
ago," Raza said. "The DUHS has probably received the money by now and I am sure
that the students will get it soon. Health Minister Sagheer Ahmed had drawn the
chief minister's attention to the matter and the resolution was moved in the
Assembly. The money cannot be used anywhere else either because it has been
sanctioned for this purpose only." The affected students have protested against their
immense difficulties. House Officers' Committee head Dr Sohaib said that there
were students coming in from all segments of society and they could not afford
to work without pay. "This is not a college for the elite," he said. "There are
poor people who pay Rs10,000 for a year and they cannot even afford to buy
course books. Then there are others who come in from Interior Sindh and they
stay in hostels. Our parents expect us to earn at least a minimal amount of
money in order to pay for our basic requirements. The VC has been taking the
matter lightly and in fact even banned us from the premises, by saying that we
were not the responsibility of Dow anymore." "We did not even protest in
the beginning. We only started speaking up at the end of July when we could not
put up with the financial crisis anymore. Some of us have families to support,"
another student said. "It's not just that we want the money because it is
our right," Dr Aleem clarified. "I had to work at the Gynecology Ward of the
Lyari General Hospital (LGH) and the place was insecure; it was dirty; the
restrooms and the drains were clogged; there was no privacy for female doctors,
and security guards would saunter in and out without warning all the time. We
need this money to build our confidence and our motivation. Why should we go to
work every day for this?" Other students also complained that after the
promises made by not just the VC, but also by the Principal and the Pro-VC, the
students had still not received anything in writing saying that they would
receive their due pay. "It is sad but as much as we respected our seniors during
our years with them as students, we just cannot trust them anymore," said a
student who wanted to remain anonymous. The news
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MI School opening delayed due to water, power unavailability
Karachi: The Majlis-e-Ilmi (MI School), a noted educational project of the
country, could not be opened for the last several years just due to the
apathetic attitude of the KESC, KWSB and few other civic amenities, which are
using delaying tactics for provision of utilities connections to the
institution, it was learnt. Sources in the school administration said that
the construction work of the school's building has been completed
since long. But ironically, water connection by KWSB, telephone connection by
PTCL and power connection by the KESC have not been provided to the school yet,
they added. The sources said that each and every house in the surrounding
area of the school has been provided with the power, telephone and water
connections. On the contrary, the KWSB, KESC and PTCL did not provide the
connection to the country's one of the biggest educational projects, source in
the school administration said. It is to be noted that the school was
established at a mountainous belt in Gulistan-e-Johar, scheme 36, just in front
of Karachi University (KU). It is under the patronage of Al Majlis Al Ilmi,
funded by Arab states. The Board of Directors of this school comprises,
Azhar Abbas Hashmi, who is also the General Secretary of the Board and VC
Karachi University, Pirzada Qasim Siddiqui and former Federal Minister
Safwanullah. The vision behind this project was to establish an institution
that will meet the European standard of education but having Eastern look, Mr
Hashmi said. About the aims of the institution, he said, the objectives of
AI Majlis AI Ilmi is the establishment of an effective educational institution.
In fact, it should be an ideal institution, capable of imparting education
with dedication and involvement to our youngsters from the very start, and
moulding them in such a way that they are fully equipped to enter the practical
life. The institute is designed according to the modern concepts of the
psychology of young mind, he added. He further explained that the primary and secondary school will be housed in a
separate and exclusive building having spacious and airy classrooms and
corridors. Highly qualified and trained staff will impart education and
training. Extra curricular and co-curricular activities will be compulsory.
For the students guidance during the academic pursuance the students and
their aptitude towards different subjects will be judged. They would be
guided for choosing most appropriate careers for themselves at the later stage.
He explained that practical training will be provided in Engineering,
Aeronautics, Biotechnology, Environmental Science, Computers, Agriculture,
Farming and Information Sciences. The students will be acquainted with the
popular languages spoken around the world and will be taught Arabic, German,
French, Japanese and Persian languages. The students will meet well-known
personalities in the field of Arts, Crafts, Science, Education and Sports to
develop interest of students in that field. On the question about sports
facility, he explained that the sports complex is also constructed which
includes spacious playgrounds and gymnasium. All kind of games and athletics
will be available for the students of the school as well as for citizens.
Coaching facilities for game, horse riding, athletics and material arts will be
available. He said that adviser to Chief Minister Sindh, Sharmila Farooqui
also visited the MI School and appreciated the whole project. According to
him, she regretted that the school could not be opened due to lethargic attitude
of the civic intuitions. Sharmilla issued directives for providing all the civic
facilities so that the school to be opened as soon as possible. But no
implementation was made on her directives yet. The nation
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Student missing
Nawabshah: A student of Class-IV, who left home for his school, is missing for
the last four days. Abdul Aziz, 10, went to his school some four days back, but
did not return. Abdul Ghani, the elder brother of Aziz, had suspected that Aziz
had been kidnapped. The family has not yet informed the police about the
incident. The news
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