Overview
- The Sindh cabinet, in its August 5 meeting, directed Jinnah Sindh Medical University to appoint Prof Dr Nighat Shah to a three-year professorship and sent the matter to the Universities and Boards Department for implementation.
- The provincial order makes the appointment contractual and effective one day before Dr Shah’s scheduled retirement, a timing that has drawn public attention and media scrutiny.
- The government cites a Pakistan Medical and Dental Council notification dated May 19 that allows public medical institutions to engage retired faculty up to age 65 on contract, but the notice is enabling rather than mandatory and does not grant rights to permanent absorption.
- The PMDC text also requires that such reappointments must not harm promotion prospects or the cadre structure of junior faculty, and several senior JSMU professors have written to officials saying six associate professors could be affected by the extension.
- Secretary Abbas Baloch has told the JSMU vice-chancellor to implement the cabinet decision and file a priority compliance report, and observers say the outcome of that report will determine whether institutional rules and junior staff protections are upheld.