The long-drawn controversy over Karachi’s three major hospitals was finally resolved on Monday as the federal government accepted the Sindh government’s request over the ownership of hospitals and handed them over to provincial govt under a new agreement.
According to details, the federal government has handed over the administrative control of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) and National Institute of Child Health (NICH) to the Sindh government under the agreement.
As per the agreement, the federal government has handed over administrative and financial control of Karachi’s three hospitals to Sindh government on a 25-year lease.
In January 2019, the SC rejected the Sindh government’s appeal and ordered the federal government to take control of the JPMC, the NICH in Karachi as well as the NICVD.
The provincial government and the health institutions had approached the court with a claim that since the subject of health had been devolved to the provinces under the 18th Amendment, the management of the JPMC, NICVD and NICH also vested with the Sindh government.
It is pertinent to mention here that the three hospitals were handed over to the provincial government by the federal government in 2011 after the 18th Amendment.
