ISLAMABAD: Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal reportedly submitted his written resignation to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif within hours of the deadly fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), but the prime minister did not accept it, according to highly informed sources.
Sources said Kamal informed the Prime Minister’s Office of his decision shortly after the August 26 tragedy, in which 14 newborn babies were killed in a fire at PIMS’s Mother and Child Health Centre.
The resignation was reportedly submitted in writing and communicated to the prime minister within a few hours of the incident. However, instead of accepting it, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the health minister to remain in office until the completion of the inquiry into the tragedy.
According to the sources, the prime minister asked Mustafa Kamal to wait for the report of the inquiry committee established to determine the causes of the fire and fix responsibility for the deaths.
Resignation Kept Out of Public Domain
Sources further claimed that the health minister was instructed not to make his resignation public while the inquiry was underway.
The development is significant because the government took action against Federal Health Secretary Muhammad Aslam Ghori soon after the tragedy, while Mustafa Kamal continued to serve as health minister.
Kamal subsequently appeared before parliament and the media, where he continued to defend the government’s commitment to accountability and investigation.
When contacted for comment, Mustafa Kamal did not respond to messages seeking confirmation of whether he had submitted his resignation or whether the prime minister had declined to accept it.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and senior officials associated with the prime minister were also contacted for their position on the matter. They said they had no information regarding such a resignation.
Minister Continued to Support Inquiry
Since the incident, Mustafa Kamal has publicly supported the investigation into the PIMS fire and repeatedly stated that those found responsible would not be spared.
Speaking in the Senate, the health minister said the tragedy could not be allowed to become an issue that remained in the news for only a few days before disappearing from public attention.
He also called for accountability as well as broader reforms in the country’s healthcare system.
The reported resignation has now added another dimension to questions surrounding the government’s handling of the PIMS tragedy.
Action Against PIMS Officials
The development comes after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had already ordered action against senior PIMS officials following the submission of an interim inquiry report.
The prime minister ordered the suspension of eight officials, including the Executive Director of PIMS and senior officials associated with the Children’s Hospital and Mother and Child Health Centre.
The officials were also directed to face criminal proceedings.
The interim inquiry report identified serious shortcomings in the hospital’s preparedness to deal with emergencies.
Among the concerns highlighted in the report was the absence of a detailed and properly rehearsed procedure for responding to a fire and evacuating newborn babies from the nursery.
The report recommended further technical and forensic investigation to determine the exact location and cause of the fire.
Questions Over Accountability
The reported decision to retain the health minister pending completion of the inquiry has raised questions about how responsibility was handled following the deaths of the newborns.
According to the sources, the federal health minister was prepared to step down immediately after the deaths, but the prime minister decided that he should remain in office until the inquiry established responsibility.
At the same time, the health secretary was reportedly removed before the investigation had fully established responsibility.
The reported sequence of events has therefore added a new element to the ongoing debate over accountability for the PIMS fire.
While the government has taken disciplinary action against senior hospital officials and ordered criminal proceedings, the final inquiry is expected to determine the precise causes of the incident and identify those responsible for the safety failures.
For now, neither Mustafa Kamal nor the Prime Minister’s Office has publicly confirmed the reported resignation.
The final inquiry report is likely to be crucial in determining whether further administrative or legal action will be taken against officials responsible for the hospital’s emergency preparedness and fire safety arrangements.
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