LAHORE - The chairman Board of Management (BoM) of the Post Graduate Medical Institute (PGMI) here Wednesday recommended names of three doctors including a retired professor for the vacant post of PGMI principal without consulting other members of the board. No meeting of BoM was convened to seek the opinion of the members before recommending the names to the Secretary Health. It is learnt reliably that names of senior doctors holding top positions in the seniority list have been ignored for the same post. The doctors recommended for the coveted post include Prof Dr Tariq Salahuddin, Neurosurgeon and Head of the Department Lahore General Hospital, Prof Dr Israr Ahmad, Head of ENT Department and Prof Dr Farrukh Zaman. A source privy to the development said that the names of the said professors were finalised by BoM Chairman Humayyun Farid himself without seeking approval from the board members thereby creating a big question mark on the validity of the recommendations submitted to Secretary Health Punjab. The Chairman of the board, Humayyun Farid is an industrialist and being not concerned with health department, he needs more consultation at least with the senior doctors to determine the suitability of the candidates being recommended, commented a senior doctor. More appalling lapse in the recommendation made by Humayyun is his recommendation for Prof Dr Farrukh Zaman who got retirement from the post of Principal PGMI in the mid of April this year. After his retirement, the post was lying vacant. Knowing well this fact, the BoM chairman included his name in the list of the three senior doctors for next principal and moreover declared him as the most suitable candidate for having the requisite administrative experience. The catch in his selection is that Punjab Government has imposed ban on the re-employment of retired government officers. Health Department sources disclosed that neither the BoM meeting was convened nor the circular was issued to seek opinion from BoM members or the other senior doctors before finalising names of three doctors for the top slot. The BoM members were informed formally after finalising the names of the doctors in this regard. Moreover two BoM members refused to endorse the names of three doctors when the BoM chairman asked them to submit their opinions in this regard. It is worth mentioning here that out of seven members of the Board of Management of PGMI, two members - Ijaz Gohar and Imtiaz Rafi Butt - neither visited the hospital nor attended any board meeting for the last seven months. While two other members of the board Justice (r) Khawaja Pall and Professor (r) Munirul Haq preferred to stay away from the issue as a protest against the decision of the BoM chairman. The chairman did not consult with the rest of the members too on the selection of the doctors for the post. Seeking anonymity, the board member said that the recommendations submitted to the Secretary Health for the posting of next principal are clear violation of merit policy. He said the chairman appointed in the tenure of previous govt bypassed the BoM. He further said that other senior doctors holding top positions in the PGMI seniority list are badly ignored by the chairman BoM. To a question, he said that Prof Dr Kokab Bashir, professor of Medicine and Prof Dr Nazir Ahmad, senior neurosurgeon, are holding first and second positions in the seniority list of the PGMI respectively but they were not considered for the coveted slot which is a clear violation of merit policy. When contacted BoM chairman did not attend his mobile phone. He even did not reply to the message sent on his cell phone. Secretary Health, Anwar Khan said that according to set rules seniority does not matter for the top posts. He said the candidate is selected on the basis of his administrative experience besides some other factors. If a senior officer is lacking administrative experience and some other benchmarks then he should not be posted on sensitive seat in the larger interest of the institute and the public, he said. To a question that the BoMs meeting was not convened to finalise the names of senior doctors, the Secretary Health said, if that is the case then it is a violation of rules.