The Sindh government issued a notification on February 12, 2022, forming a three-member committee to “probe and fix responsibility for the alleged negligence, misadministration and maladministration” by Prof. Anila Atta-ur-Rehman, Vice Chancellor Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University.
Prof. Rehman is on compulsory leave and Prof Hakim Ali Abro has taken charge of SMBBMU.
The three-member committee, headed by DUHS Vice-Chancellor Prof Mohammad Saeed Quraishy, was formed almost three months after a fourth-year MBBS female student was found hanged in the girls’ hostel at Chandka Medical College, Larkana. This was the second death of a student at a girls’ hostel in Larkana in about two years, and has shocked everyone, a private news channel reported.
The committee will also probe various irregularities highlighted in the audit report of the university. Prof Saleem Raza Samo, VC of Nawabshah’s Quaid-e-Awam University of Engineering, Science and Technology, in one of the other two committee members.
It was reported that Samo himself has been nominated in over a dozen cases. There are allegations of harassment. Samo is also facing anti-corruption inquiry for over Rs510million embezzlement during his tenure. The government representative, however, insists that the alleged harassment case against Samo was very weak and has been closed. He admitted that the corruption probe against him is still pending. “We are hopeful that he’ll play an impartial role in the SMBBMU investigation committee,” he said.
