{"id":9122,"date":"2025-08-18T20:21:24","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T20:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/2025\/08\/18\/nirm-probe-dissolution-controversy\/"},"modified":"2025-08-18T20:36:29","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T20:36:29","slug":"nirm-probe-dissolution-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/2025\/08\/18\/nirm-probe-dissolution-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"NIRM Sub-Committee Dissolution Raises Concerns of Transparency"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dissolution of NIRM Sub-Committee Sparks Allegations of Pressure and Cover-Up<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Nadeem Tanoli<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Islamabad:\u00a0The sudden dissolution of a parliamentary sub-committee investigating the affairs of the National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (NIRM) has sparked intense controversy in the National Assembly\u2019s Standing Committee on National Health Services. Lawmakers accused influential figures of exerting pressure to halt the inquiry, fueling concerns about a potential cover-up and the integrity of parliamentary oversight.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The disbanded sub-committee had been established to examine issues at NIRM. According to committee members Dr. Shazia Sobia Aslam Soomro and Zehra Wadood Fatemi, the group had barely begun its work, holding just one meeting where it heard several witness testimonies and requested further evidence. The dissolution, they argued, was done under the unfounded pretext of \u201cbias.\u201d Dr. Shazia insisted that the committee was committed to basing its findings on proof, not assumptions, and called the move an \u201cinsult\u201d to parliamentarians. Both members suggested that the abrupt end to the probe indicated powerful interests sought to suppress the truth about NIRM.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers also reported facing harassment and outside interference. Zehra Wadood Fatemi disclosed she received phone calls questioning her role in the sub-committee, while Dr. Shazia alleged that the motive for dissolving the committee was direct pressure from those trying to protect wrongdoings at the institution. She urged that the case be assigned to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to ensure an independent and impartial investigation.<\/p>\n

Standing Committee Chairman Dr. Mahesh Kumar Malani found himself mediating a tense standoff. He acknowledged the strong feelings of committee members and apologized for the injury to their reputations. However, he cautioned that excessive public criticism could harm the hospital\u2019s reputation and suggested the dispute should be discussed in a private in-camera session to allow for a frank and serious dialogue.<\/p>\n

This episode has come to represent a broader conflict between transparency and entrenched power within public institutions. While the committee ultimately agreed to revisit the matter in a closed-door meeting, the demand for an FIA-led inquiry remains unresolved. For now, the fate of the NIRM investigation is uncertain, as parliamentarians warn that undermining legislative scrutiny could have serious consequences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dissolution of NIRM Sub-Committee Sparks Allegations of Pressure and Cover-Up Nadeem Tanoli Islamabad:\u00a0The sudden dissolution of a parliamentary sub-committee investigating the affairs of the National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine (NIRM) has sparked intense controversy in the National Assembly\u2019s Standing Committee on National Health Services. Lawmakers accused influential figures of exerting pressure to halt the inquiry, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":9123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[538,2102,2101,2103,2104,1449,2105,2100,1450,514],"class_list":["post-9122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-education","tag-accountability","tag-fiainquiry","tag-healthcarepakistan","tag-healthcommittee","tag-hospitalcorruption","tag-medicalaccountability","tag-medicalreform","tag-nirm","tag-parliamentaryoversight","tag-publichealthpakistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9122"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9127,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9122\/revisions\/9127"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}