Pims head says ‘corrupt sweeper' had him removed with backing of PM office

ISLAMABAD: In a surprising admission and revelation, the executive director of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) insists that he was removed through lobbying by a ‘corrupt sweeper’ who was backed by the Prime Minister Office.

Dr Raja Amjad was serving as the acting executive director of Polyclinic for a few months before becoming the head of Pims. During a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) at Parliament House, Dr Amjad said he was transferred because of a hospital sweeper.

The committee had met on Monday to discuss issues facing Pims and the need for a new healthcare facility in the capital.

He said a bureaucrat currently facing a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) case in the Ashiana housing scheme had him removed from his last appointment at the request of a sweeper and other corrupt elements in Polyclinic. He said in an indirect reference to former principal secretary to the prime minister Fawad Hassan Fawad.

He explained that he had taken action against the sweeper and his accomplices for their financial irregularities in connivance with a contractor. But ‘all of a sudden I got a fax notifying my removal from the post, he added.

Briefing about the hospital matters, Dr Amjad said efforts were being made by utilising the available resources to improve service delivery. Major steps have been taken, such as upgrading emergency departments where emergency patients are being provided medicines for free, in the last four months. He, however, added that the medicine budget should be increased from Rs208.75 million to Rs625m to provide free medicine to all patients.