PESHAWAR: The chairman of the nowdissolved Board of Governors of Nowshera teaching hospital has termed its dissolution unlawful and unwarranted.

`The dissolution of the BoG has upset me and other members,` Zafeerullah Khan, chairman of the dissolved BoG, told Dawn.

The government had formed BoG for Nowshera Medical College and Qazi Hussain Ahmed Memorial Hospital (QHAMH)NowsherainFebruarylastyear in line with Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Act, 2015 to grant financial and administrative autonomy to the institutions and improves patients` care.

The NMC was established last year and QHAMH was inaugurated in March this year. The seven-member board workedwithout being paid.

A notification issued by health department on October 25 said that in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 15 read with Section 20 of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa General Clauses Act, 1956 and Section 20 (I) of MTIRA 2015, the competent authority (chief minister) was pleased to dissolve the BoG of NMC with immediate ef fect.

Consequently, in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 22 of MTIRA 2015, the competent authority is pleased to authorise secretary of health department to act as BoG till constitution of new board.

However, Zareefullah Khan insisted that there was no provision in the law for removal of the BoGs.

Health Secretary Abid Majeed, however, argued that an amendment in MTIRA 2015 empowered the government to remove the members of the board. `The government can remove members of the board including its chairman. We are going to appoint new BoG soon,` he said.

Section 22 of MTIRA 2015 says: `Notwithstanding anything contained in the provision of this Act, government may take such measures, as deemed fit, for thepurpose of removing difficulties and ensuring effective and efficient health care. If any difficulty arises in giving effect to any provision of this Act, government may make such order not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act as may appear to it to be necessary for the purpose of removing such difficulty and such power may be exercised up to one year after the commencement of this Act.

Zafeerullah Khan, a retired general manager of the Civil Aviation Authority, who acted as BoG chairman, said that government should have given reasons prior to taking such an acdon because they were all honest and reputed members of society and committed people.

`We demand a probe into the dissolution of the board. We have no personal interest except that the decision is very un-ceremonial and unwarranted and hard hitting for the poor community of Nowshera. We haven`t received any instructions, 0bservations or reservations from any quarter including the government leading to such an illegal action,` he said.

However, the health secretary said that reasons and justification for dissolving theBoG were contained in the summary approved by the competent authority.

Zareefullah Khan said they had outsourced security, janitorial and cafeteria services to block corruption and favouritism through advertisement. On clinical side, MRI and CT scan have been started on `built operate and transfer` basis to ensure that patients get state-of-the-art services.

`Other f acilities like angiography, angioplasty and dialysis with the same concept were in the pipeline,` said Zareefullah Khan.

The boards have overall authority and responsibility and report to the government. These were supposed to meet targets such as improving performance, enhancing effectiveness, efficiency and responsiveness to ensure quality healthcare services.

`Now the big question is did the BoG Nowshera failed to meet such target? Is there any yardstick? Are the other boards delivering? The chief minister on many occasion appreciated my personal contribution and the board to make the hospital functional,` he added.