Declaring the Lyari General Hospital a “den of corruption”, a member of the Sindh Assembly (MPA) from Lyari, Abdur Rasheed, on Thursday alleged that the principal of Male College of Nursing at the hospital was extorting money from nursing students and keeping the stipends of students instead of paying them to the students.
“The Sindh health department pays Rs30,000 per month as stipend to nursing students of the Lyari General Hospital Male College of Nursing. Instead of allowing students to withdraw this money from their accounts, Principal Shabana Baloch snatches this money from students” and punished those who refused to give her their money, MPA Rasheed alleged while addressing a news conference at the Karachi Press Club.
A large number of students of the college also held a demonstration against their principal, alleging that she took away their stipends, extorted money from them and forced them to do duties at wards in place of permanent employees of the tertiary-care hospital.
Accompanied by six students from the Lyari College of Nursing, MPA Rasheed alleged that Baloch was not a qualified person, was an associate of Uzair Baloch, got herself appointed after paying seven hundred thousand rupees to Sindh health department officials and was now extorting money from students, whose financial background was very weak and they could not continue their education without stipends.
Similarly, he alleged Principal Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Medical College Lyari Prof Anjum Rehman was using college and hospital’s resources, equipment and staff to run her own private hospital. These two women had destroyed the Lyari General Hospital and medical education, he further charged.
He said he got a privileged motion passed unanimously from the Sindh Assembly against one Uzair Lal, who is PRO and front man of the principal of Benazir Bhutto Medical College, but the clan controlling the Lyari General Hospital was so powerful that nothing was done against him or any other person.
“Local police don’t register FIRs against gangsters who have taken shelter at the Lyari General Hospital and medical and nursing colleges while health department officials, including health minister Dr Azra Pechuho and even the Sindh chief secretary are helpless in front of this corrupt people at the Lyari General Hospital,” the MPA further alleged.
He further charged that students of the nursing college were being forced to sign blank cheques by their principal and those who refused were beaten up, their cell phones were snatched and they were threatened with expulsion from the college.
“But now these students are boiling with rage. I have shown them the way of protest; otherwise, some of them could go to any extent,” he said and demanded of the director general of the Sindh Rangers, the IGP and the chief minister to take stock of the situation and get the people of Lyari rid of the corrupt women, who were plundering millions and they had destroyed education and health facilities in Lyari.
Counter allegations
Levelling counter allegations, Principal Shabana Baloch said MPA Abdur Rasheed came to her for admissions of several students who failed to pass the NTS examination for admissions, and when she refused, he started levelling allegations against her.
“This MPA, who is from the Jamaat-e-Islami, also wants to use our students for his political purposes and agenda. When we refused, he started a derogatory campaign against us and even started my character assassination,” Baloch said and advised the MPA to concentrate on the provision of basic amenities of life, getting the roads repaired and solving water and sanitation issues of the people of Lyari instead of poking his nose into the affairs of the nursing college.
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