Punjab widens VC control over teaching hospitals
The Punjab government has expanded the administrative powers of vice chancellors at public sector medical universities through the Public Sector Medical Universities (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2026. Governor Sardar Saleem Haider Khan promulgated the measure under Article 128(1) of the Constitution. It was published in an extraordinary issue of The Punjab Gazette on 20 October and came into force immediately.
The ordinance covers King Edward Medical University (KEMU), Fatima Jinnah Medical University (FJMU), Faisalabad Medical University (FMU), Rawalpindi Medical University (RMU) and the University of Child Health Sciences, Lahore. Under the law, each vice chancellor is the chief executive and academic officer of the university and exercises administrative control over officers, teachers and other employees of the university, its constituent college and hospital, and must enforce the Act, rules and regulations.
Accountability for care at attached hospitals
Officials say the changes are meant to hold university heads accountable for problems that hinder quality healthcare at attached teaching hospitals. A senior official involved in recommendations for the amendments said the ordinance defines the vice chancellor’s role and makes the office responsible for standard care for patients in those hospitals.
In the past, the official said, vice chancellors often pointed to academic, clinical and research work as their main duties when higher authorities asked about poor conditions at teaching hospitals. Last year, when the health secretary questioned the then vice chancellors of FJMU and FMU about quality of care in attached hospitals, they said they had no role in patient-care management. Health authorities then sought amendments so vice chancellors could be held accountable for care standards.
College names and board composition
The ordinance also restores King Edward Medical College, Fatima Jinnah Medical College, Faisalabad Medical College, Rawalpindi Medical College and Nishtar Medical College, Multan, as constituent colleges of their respective universities under their original names.
It revises the make-up of specified university governance and financial bodies, including representation from the law and parliamentary affairs department and the finance department. The same official said the amendments could improve coordination, clarify administrative responsibilities and strengthen oversight of public funds.
Autonomy and checks on power
The official also said expanding vice chancellors’ powers and increasing government representation has raised questions about institutional autonomy and accountability. Greater executive authority may speed decisions, the official said, but effective checks and balances remain essential to avoid excessive centralisation.
Citing earlier breaches, the official said the specialised healthcare department had failed to enforce its own rule barring vice chancellors from private practice, even though appointees had given affidavits pledging to follow it. Government seats on boards can support financial transparency, the official added, only if they do not weaken merit-based appointments or independent academic decisions.
Dr Mian Adnan, a former leader of the Punjab Young Doctors Association and a representative of the south Punjab medical forum, said governance restructuring alone cannot guarantee better medical education or healthcare. Success, he said, should be judged by transparent financial management, faculty development, research standards, clinical training and patient care, and the central task is to strengthen accountability without sacrificing academic independence.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Punjab ne medical universities ke vice chancellors ko attached hospitals par zyada administrative ikhtiyar de diye hain. Ab yeh VC patients ki care aur hospital intizam ke liye zimmedar samjhe jaenge. Paanch medical colleges ke purane naam wapas kar diye gaye hain. Hukumat ke board seats se funds ki nigraani tez ho sakti hai, lekin autonomy aur check-and-balance ka sawal bhi utha hai.
