Medical Education in Jeopardy in Balochistan

Students of the Bolan Medical College,  Quetta 

protesting over the closure of the college and its hostels.

Siting in a protest camp in the freezing weather of Quetta during the peak of winters isn’t easy but for a medical student like Saima Baloch, it is a matter of survival. Saima Baloch, a masked girl in her 19s, has travelled approximately 750 kilometers from her hometown in Makran division to Quetta for her MBBS career in the Bolan Medical College, Quetta. As the largest and prominent of the three other medical colleges in Balochistan, this medical institution was set up in 1972, serving as a beacon of hope for a region where medical education is in disarray.

However, this ray of optimism has come under threat after its closure on 12th November following a minor clash between two student groups. While the matter was resettled later, the hostels of the Bolan Medical College accommodating 1,000 MBBS students haven’t been reopened.

The college management has dismissed the matter, stating that the hostels need repair and that the College would reopen in March, 2025 but the students fear that the medical college, like the University of Balochistan, would be militarised.

The students of BMC and people from different backgrounds have set up a camp in front of the main gate, demanding its reopening, “ Studying regularly in the medical field is of utmost importance. We would lose tenfold if we skipped even a single day study. The College administration along with the police have also closed the library in addition to the hostels and they had been closed since a month now.” Saima complains with resentment. “Out of the three girl hostels, we were successful in preventing the closing of the lone one. However, lady constables regularly intimidate us and have delivered notices to our parents while brandishing sticks and weapons.”

The college management has dismissed the matter, stating that the hostels need repair and that the College would reopen in March, 2025 but the students fear that the medical college, like the University of Balochistan, would be militarised.

Azhar Baloch, The Baloch Students Action Committee’s Central General Secretary, fears that the government would install spy cameras and install military check posts just like the University of Balochistan, closure of hostels of science college, and instalment of surveillance cameras in BUETK (Balochistan University of Engineering and Technology, Khuzdar) and SBK( Sardar Bahadaur Khan Women University, Quetta), “ A small miscommunication amongst the students was cleared up. However, the College administration, police and the provincial government created an excuse to sabotage the institution’s very tranquil and peaceful educational atmosphere. More than a hundred students were taken into custody after the police charged.” Azar Baloch exposes. “ The college administration also complains of strangers residing in the hostels without solids reasons to profile students.”

With their protest continuing till the reopening of the institution’s hostels to forming a committee holding the police accountable for the students’ injuries, students additionally demand the compensation of the lost valuables during the incident such as laptops, mobile phones, cash and medical devices.

“ The college administration has ordered us to end the protest and return to our hometowns but we don’t have facilities to study there.” Says Merro Baloch, a third year MBBS student from Kahan, district Kohlu.

Keeping in mind that Balochistan got its first medical college as late as in 1972, the Bolan Medical College has been an epicentre of student politics and medical education since its inception, producing an influential number of graduates. According to reports mentioned in its prospectus, it has produced roughly 7,244 MBBS graduates and 538 BDS doctors provoking one to state that agitating its peaceful environment and tranquillity would disturb the healthcare system of Balochistan on a broader sense.

 However, Bolan Medical College isn’t alone in its predicament. Established in 2018, The Mekran Medical College in Turbat, Jhalawan Medical College in Khuzdar and Loralai Medical College in Loralai face identical concerns of government negligence, lack of proper infrastructure, unavailability of teaching faculty and shortage of staff salaries. The Jhalawan and Loralai Medical colleges even don’t have proper buildings and adequate hostels. Given that these three colleges have increased the capacity of Medical seats in Balochistan, an additional of 470 MBBS doctors would be produced by 2026, according to reports.

In a similar incident in August, 2024, the students of the Mekran Medical college blocked the Main CPEC road near Turbat over the unavailability of staff, shortage of internet facilities and scholarships. A month later, on the 8th of September, 2024, the Medical staff, doctors and students of Mekran Medical College again protested over the suspension of teachers’ salaries for four months.

Protest of the students of Mekran Medical College,  Turbat 

The protest, led by the Young Doctors Association and Paramedical Association held a sit-in in front of the hospital’s MS’s office, complaining that the teaching faculty of the three medical colleges __MMC, JMC and LMC __had been without salary for four consecutive months. The protest ended after a week, but doctors and Paramedical staff of the province still confront a shortage of salary and other basics amenities.

Tanveer Ahmed, a first year MBBS student hailing from the Sohbatpur district at the Jhalawan Medical College asserts, “ We don’t have proper educational facilities at our college. The hostels are situated in the bazaar but there aren’t enough buses to take us to our college. “ Just like Tanveer Ahmed, Masood Baloch from Jaffarabad, his class fellow, laments of commuting to and from the only library which is very far__ situated at the district Headquarters hospital. The Jhalawan Medical College like the other two newly formed medical colleges, was established in 2018, functioning in a temporary building on the main RCD road in the Khuzdar district. Spanning over an area of 27 acres, it has only four lecture halls, four small museums and few medical books.

The students of the Loralai Medical College at Loralai are also in jeopardy. Situated at the Lashti Killi near Commissioner office, the existing building of this College covers only a meagre area of 16 acres of land. The students complain of basic medical facilities, lack of teaching staff, unavailability of internet and a full-fledged library. The unpaid salaries of the teaching faculty further compounds their misery.

Medical colleges and healthcare institutes confront a dire and demanding situation in Balochistan. However, the looming dilemmas facing these institutions extends far beyond the classrooms. The healthcare sector of the province is in a grim situation and problems affecting medical colleges would further exacerbate the already tenuous state of the healthcare sector. As far as the recent studies, there are only two doctors available for over 10,000 Patients in the region. While Balochistan also has the least doctor-to-patient ratio in Pakistan, this shortage would be further compounded by the closure of these medical colleges which are meant to produce the very doctors to bridge this gap.

To cut it short, addressing the problems confronting these colleges is of paramount importance. If institutions like the Bolan Medical College, the Mekran Medical College and others continue to face systemic politcal instability, militarization, unavailability of staff, shortage of regular salary and unimproved infrastructure, the production of professional doctors would dwindle. Hence, this already healthcare-deprived region would never get rid of problems like polio, mortality rates, malnutrition and Tuberculosis. Together we can make a huge difference.

Zeeshan Nasir is a Turbat-based writer, pursuing his MBBS Degree from the Makran Medical college, Turbat. He tweets on X at @zeeshannasir972