Centre's takeover of Karachi hospitals violates court orders: Sindh minister

The federal government's decision to run three public hospitals in Karachi through a board of governors is a violation of the Supreme Court order, Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho said Tuesday.

Dr Pechuho said this in a letter sent to PM's aide on health Dr Faisal Sultan. The three hospitals are Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases and National Institute of Child Health.

The federal government began the process of taking over these facilities last week. It had put forward names for an independent board of governors.

"The Supreme Court judgement clearly states that the federal government reimburse the expenditures incurred by the hospitals in order to assume management," Dr Pechuho noted in her letter.

All transfers must be in accordance with the law, through a legal instrument and the Supreme Court does not bar the federation and the provincial government from entering a management and operations agreement, it read.

The Supreme Court Judgment required the centre to reimburse the Sindh government all financial outlays and expenditures incurred, according to the Sindh health minister. The dates of these finances will be counted from June 29, 2011 till the date of the return.

The Sindh government has spent Rs100 billion on these hospitals since 2011, Dr Pechuho said. The federal government has neither intimated about the reimbursement of these expenditures, she said.

"As per the judgement of the Honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan, the mentioned hospitals shall continue to be managed and maintained by the Government of Sindh in all respects," the Sindh health minister said.

"The decision to run these hospitals with a board of governors by the Federal Government is in violation of the judgement of the Supreme Court."

She requested the federal government to withdraw the board of governors’ notification it issued last week.