ISLAMABAD: In order to create higher standard for medical education, President Dr. Arif Alvi emphasized the importance of raising the standard of medical education and implementing uniform syllabi.
In order to meet the nation’s healthcare needs, the president stated during the 5th meeting of the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University, Islamabad (SZABMU), which was held at Aiwan-e-Sadr, that medical institutions needed to produce more nursing and paramedical staff. SZABMU Members of the Senate, faculty, and Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr. Tanwir Khaliq attended the meeting. In his remarks to the group, the president emphasized the importance of creating alliances with universities abroad in order to gain access to foreign courses and educational materials through online education.
He said establishing partnerships and linkages with foreign universities was the fastest way to improve the quality of education in the country. He also called for focusing on the prevention of diseases that was far easier and cheaper as compared to curative treatment and would also help reduce the disease burden on the country’s health infrastructure. SZABMU should be an exemplary institution and role model for others in the medical sector, he said, adding medical institutions should also focus on inculcating the spirit of serving humanity among their graduates.
The SZABMU vice-chancellor briefed the president about the initiatives taken by the university for promoting medical education. Professor Dr Rizwan Taj informed the meeting that measures were being taken to increase the number of nurses in the country. The meeting endorsed the minutes of the 4th Senate meeting held on March 18, 2022. The meeting also approved the appointment of two deans, Prof Dr Rana Imran Sikandar and Prof Dr Moosa Khan as members of the syndicate under the SZABMU Act 2013.Meanwhile, President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday asked the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) to increase its outreach and raise awareness about its role in providing speedy justice to the people against the maladministration of tax authorities in matters relating to income tax, customs duties, sales tax, and federal excise duty.
The president said this wile talking to Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) Dr Asif Mahmood Jah, who called on him to present the FTO’s Annual Report for the year 2022, here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr. Highlighting the salient features of the report, Dr Asif Mahmood Jah said the FTO received 7,000 complaints during 2022 as compared to 2,816 complaints in the year 2021, and 6,500 of them were disposed of. The FTO highlighted that tax refund claims to the tune of Rs 7 billion were decided and the due amount was paid to the aggrieved taxpayers by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). He said 78% of the FTO’s decisions had been implemented and he was personally monitoring the implementation of decisions on a daily basis. FTO Jah also briefed the president about the important initiatives taken by his organization during 2022. He said an Overseas Pakistanis Grievances Redressal Cell (OPGRC) had been established in the FTO Secretariat to deal with the complaints of overseas Pakistanis pertaining to federal taxes.
A facilitation desk had also been set up for taxpayers to enable them to avail of all customs/tax-related services and get their issues resolved within the FTO’s premises in Islamabad, he added The FTO highlighted that Honorary Coordinators (Business Liaisons) from different chambers of commerce and industry and other trade bodies were appointed at the FTO headquarters and regional offices to enhance its reach to aggrieved taxpayers. He further apprised that an outreach campaign was undertaken in 2022 to enhance the FTO’s outreach across the country and more than 88 awareness sessions were conducted in that regard. President Alvi appreciated the performance of FTO in enhancing its outreach and providing relief to aggrieved taxpayers against the maladministration and high-handedness of tax officials.
