Jinnah Sindh Medical University syndicate approves rehiring without meeting
• Syndicate members asked to approve cabinet’s controversial decision regarding reappointment of Dr Nighat Shah by email: sources
• Faculty, JPMC doctors question extension; believe it could affect promotion prospects of candidates awaiting professorship
• Dr Shah responds to criticism, claims extension was needed for continuity and accreditation of the programmes she’s leading
KARACHI: In an extraordinary haste, the administration of Jinnah Sindh Medical University (JSMU) has got a controversial cabinet decision granting a three-year extension to Prof Dr Nighat Shah approved by the varsity syndicate, without calling a meeting of the body and having the said rules, it has emerged.
Prof Nighat Shah, heading an obstetrics/gynaecology unit at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), was due to retire on Aug 12.
Sources said the university registrar had sent an email to all syndicate members on Aug 11, informing them about the cabinet’s decision dated Aug 5, and the subsequent Aug 10 letter of the Universities and Boards Department, directing the JSMU vice chancellor to “ensure strict compliance” with the decision.
The members, sources said, were asked to “consider, endorse and approve the same formally” to take further necessary action in the matter.
“We were informed through the email that we need to reply by tomorrow (Aug 12). It also stated that if no reply is received by 12 noon, the agenda/decision of the government /cabinet will be deemed approved,” a JSMU syndicate member told Dawn, wishing not to be named.
The majority of the syndicate members, the sources said, replied that the cabinet’s decision could be implemented if the university rules allowed such an extension.
The sources added that JSMU, like other public sector medical and dental institutions in the province, currently did not have prescribed rules/order to hire/retain retired faculty.
In this respect, they said, the VC had written letters to the health minister and the health secretary, requesting them to issue an order in the light of the May 19, 2026 Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) guidelines, which allow retention/appointment of retired faculty in certain cases. Their response is still awaited.
“The guidelines are applicable only in cases where career progression, cadre structure and promotion prospects of other staff members are not being adversely affected. However, this is not the case here as there are several candidates at the obstetrics/gynaecology department awaiting their promotion,” a senior JPMC doctor shared.
JSMU VC Prof Amjad Siraj Memon declined to comment on the matter.
Nighat Shah responds
Responding to concerns over her extension, Prof Nighat Shah reasoned that her extension was needed for the continuity and accreditation of the programmes she was leading and that her service didn’t block career progression of her colleagues.
“How can I block their way when I am not even in the race [of candidates who have applied for professorship],” she asked.
She joined the APPNA Institute of Public Health, JSMU, in 2015 as assistant professor and led three programmes. Later, she received IVF (In vitro fertilisation) training from Germany. Upon her return to JSMU, she set up reproductive health and genetic screening services in 2019 and was later promoted to associate professor and professor through selection boards.
In 2022, she was given the charge of a ward of the obstetrics/gynaecology department at JPMC, which was lying non-functional for many years.
Recalling the challenges she faced in making the ward functional, Prof Shah, part of the government task force on family planning and maternal health, said that today it offered multiple facilities, including genetic screening of pregnant women and a maternal and fetal facility for high-risk mothers.
“Recently, we have set up an early assessment and adolescent health facility,” she said, claiming that she did the first robotic gynaecology/oncology surgery at the department.
Her statement, however, was contradicted by her colleagues.
Dr Shazia Naseeb, Associate Professor at the JPMC’s gynaecology de-partment with 37 national and international publications to her credit, said that she was the first to do robotic hysterectomy and cancer surgery at the department.
“We did the first robotic hysterectomy in 2023, and the first robotic cancer surgery was done this year in March,” she said.
According to her, though she became eligible for professorship in 2018, she is still waiting for promotion. “Today, many of my juniors are now eligible for the position,” she said.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, senior JPMC doctors said that if Prof Nighat Shah was so talented, why didn’t the government transfer her to the underserved areas of the province instead of depriving candidates who had been waiting for promotion for many years.
They also questioned why the government didn’t extend the tenure of other professors who retired over the time, leaving their departments without senior faculty and creating a serious vacuum in meeting academic and patient needs.
They also claimed that the ward Prof Nighat Shah was heading now remained non-functional for several years because the JPMC administration didn’t allow any senior doctor to head it, though there were willing candidates.
They also questioned the grounds made for Prof Nighat Shah’s recommendation and said there was no shortage of robotic surgery specialists at the department.
Regretting the situation, Prof Dr Haleema Yasmin, head of the Obstetrics/Gynaecology Department at the JPMC and part of the JSMU faculty, said, “Seeing injustice being done to so many talented girls has forced me to share my views. The three gynae units are under me and all are offering the same facilities to patients. There are no exceptions.
“I feel that the post (of Prof Shah) should have been advertised to allow all interested retirees to apply in order to uphold merit and transparency.”
Supporting Prof Naseeb, Prof Yasmin said she had done many gynae robotic surgeries, including the first robotic gynae/cancer surgery at JPMC.
She had also conducted the first national workshop on robotic surgery, Prof Yasmin said.
Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2026
