Dr Muqim appointed as KMC’s acting dean

PESHAWAR: The Board of Governors (BoG) on Friday appointed Prof Dr Rooh-ul-Muqim appointed as acting dean of the Khyber Medical College (KMC) as his predecessor Prof Dr Noorul Iman completed his three-year term.

Dr Muqim previously served as Medical Director of KTH. He is in-charge of Surgical-C Ward in KTH. As per a notification, Dr Noorul Iman was relieved of his responsibility as dean KMC on completion of his tenure. However, he will be serving as professor of medicine department KTH/KMC. Dr Muqim has also rendered services as medical director KTH and took a number of initiatives including the opening of a hospital-based pharmacy, and launching the institution-based private practice. Though the pharmacy was a small one, it provided quality medicines at reasonable price to patients. It was set up at a cost of Rs500,000 and earned Rs50 million in three years, according to hospital officials. Dr Muqim had scuttled the plan of certain people in the BoG and hospital administration who were reportedly looking to rent out a prime location in KTH to a private party for setting up a pharmacy. At that time, according to well-placed sources, some elements in the BoG and the hospital administration were supposed to get Rs20m as their share from the private party. Dr Muqim and others took a stand and refused to rent out the space to the private party. However, the powerful elements started creating problems for Dr Muqim and tried to implicate him when a patient was allegedly mishandled in medicine department that led to his amputation. He was forced to resign. After his resignation, the elements with vested elements used their connections in an investigative agency to harass him by accusing him of selling spurious drugs in the hospital pharmacy. Now the powerful elements are again out to rent out that prime space to a private party to set up the pharmacy. Though the provincial government had long decided to replace some of the BoG members for their alleged poor performance and even moved a summary, it didn’t happen due to reasons best known to those at helm of affairs. Around nine applicants had been shortlisted for the Dean KMC position, but date for the interviews is yet to be announced. Some insiders in KTH told The News that some elements with vested interests had planned to carry out their projects including renting out the hospital space to a private party and procurement of highly expensive equipment during this tenure when all important positions, including dean, medical director and hospital director are being run on acting charge basis. They even argue that interviews may not take place and some people had already decided to move the court so that the position could be run on acting charge basis. Dr Muqim graduated from KMC in 1987. He has served as KTH registrar, senior registrar, assistant professor, associate professor and now professor of surgery. During his tenure as medical director, he introduced many reforms as per MTI Act and implemented them in letter and spirit. First he improved the intensive care services of the hospital, particularly the SICU, MICU and CCU and upgraded the services of Accident and Emergency Dept.