NOWSHERA: The non-recognition of the Nowshera Medical College by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council has caused uncertainty among the students and their parents.

The college had admitted at least 100 MMBS students in the first batch, but unfortunately the PMDC did not accord recognition to it, a senior doctor told this correspondent on Tuesday.

He said the Khyber Medical University, which oversaw the process of admissions, could not conduct examination of the students of the college if it was not recognised by the PMDC. He explained that the students were admitted to the college through proper channel on open merit after a verdict of the Peshawar High Court on November 22, 2016, which had directed KMU to constitute a joint admission committee for the purpose.

The senior doctor said a hospital needed to have 500 beds for establishing a medical college, but the Qazi Hussain Ahmad Medical Centre, which runs the college, had only 340 beds. He explained that to meet the condition of the PMDC, the 160-bed district headquarters hospital, Nowshera, was assumed to be part of the medical college, but now the provincial health department had declared the DHQ hospital`s status as independently running, making further dif ficult the medical col-lege`s recognition by the PMDC.

When contacted, Principal Nowshera Medical College Dr Tahir Khan told this correspondent that the future of students was secure as all of them had been admitted through proper channel. He said that PMDC officials had visited the medical college and their reservations about the medical centre had been removed. Dr Tahir said the PMDC had forwarded the case to the federal health minister for final approval, but unfortunately it was delayed through different tactics. He claimed that the federal government did not want to accord approval to the hospital as its credit would go to PTI, which rules the province.

The principal said that the KMU, which was the examination authority, had admitted the students after floating advertisements in newspapers on the orders of the high court.

However, the senior doctor said that now the KMU was also reluctant to allow the students to participate in the examinations.

Talking to this scribe, a local said her daughter had been shifted to the Nowshera Medical College from DI Khan Medical College, but the latter`s non-recognition by PMDC had worried him.

He requested the government to take the issue seriously as it was matter of future of scores of students. Correspondent