Punjab is preparing a major shift in how its public medical campuses are run. The Public Sector Medical Universities (Second Amendment) Ordinance 2026, placed before the Punjab Assembly, proposes to give vice chancellors of the province’s seven government medical universities the powers of chief executive and chief academic officer, along with administrative control over officers, teachers and other employees.
Under the same draft, those vice chancellors would also oversee the universities’ linked colleges, teaching hospitals and other affiliated institutions. The assembly has sent the ordinance to the Standing Committee on Higher Education for detailed scrutiny before any final vote.
What the ordinance would change
The text would amend the laws that govern Punjab medical universities so that day-to-day authority sits more clearly with each vice chancellor. Administrative control of colleges and teaching hospitals attached to those campuses would move under the same office, tightening the link between academic leadership and hospital management at the seven Punjab medical universities.
Several long-established medical colleges would regain legal status as constituent colleges of their parent universities. King Edward Medical College in Lahore would again be treated as a constituent college of its related university. Fatima Jinnah Medical College, Lahore, would be linked to Fatima Jinnah Medical University; Punjab Medical College, Faisalabad, to Faisalabad Medical University; and Rawalpindi Medical College and Nishtar Medical College, Multan, to their respective universities.
Finance oversight and the path ahead
The ordinance also requires Finance Department representation on the decision-making bodies of the public medical universities. The secretary finance, or a nominee of at least additional secretary rank, would sit on those bodies—an attempt to keep budget and administrative decisions aligned with provincial financial oversight.
The Governor of Punjab approved the Medical Universities (Second Amendment) Ordinance 2026 on 20 October 2026 for a period of 90 days. It is now before the Standing Committee on Higher Education. After the committee reports, the measure would return to the Punjab Assembly for approval; once the house passes it, the ordinance would become law.
For students, faculty and patients at these campuses, the practical question is how unified control will work once the legal framework is settled. Until the committee finishes its review and the assembly votes, the changes remain proposals rather than final rules.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Punjab ki 7 sarkari medical universities ke intezami nizam mein bari tabdeeli ka mansuba hai. Vice chancellors ko universities, linked colleges aur teaching hospitals ka administrative control milne ki tajweez hai. Yeh ordinance ab Higher Education ki qaema committee mein under e'tibar hai. Assembly se manzoori ke baad yeh qanoon ban sakta hai.
