Fake Degree Scandal: FIA to probe PNMC president’s fake degree claims
Islamabad: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has initiated an inquiry into the fake degree case and illegal appointment of Farzna on GB quota of Pakistan Nursing and Midwifery Council (PNMC) President Farzana Zulfiqar as the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has declined to recognise it.
A senior FIA official told Newztoday that complaints were received that foreign degrees and work experience of Farzana Zulfiqar were fraudulent.
The queries were forwarded to the HEC and other relevant departments to verify the facts.Education Ministry, CDA sign MoU on IT internships program
The FIA sought verification from the HEC regarding Ms Zulfiqar’s degrees, including MSc in Nursing and BSc in Nursing from the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Programme Institute.
The HEC informed that the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Programme Institute was a non-accredited and non-chartered entity, therefore the HEC did not recognise the degree.
The HEC has also mentioned that the names of recognised institutes in this regard were available on Unesco’s website, however, the name of this institute was not listed on the website.
Therefore, the commission said, it could not attest any degree awarded by non-chartered universities. Hence, the institution from which she attained her qualification was not recognised.
Ms Zulfiqar was appointed as member and PNMC president in December 2023.
Her nomination as member of the council has been contested by the government Gilgit-Baltistan as Ms Zulfiqar was appointed a member in the PNMC on the GB quota.
The FIA inquiry included a letter by the Gilgit-Baltistan chief minister to the federal health secretary forwarded in November 2023 expressing concerns that Farzana Zulfiqar had a domicile of Sindh, and was in PNMC against their quota.
The GB government pointed out that it had proposed Ms Sartaj as a member of the PNMC, who is a senior nurse of BS-16 at PHQ Hospital Gilgit.
The FIA inquiry has stated that Farzana Zulfiqar, a private nurse from Sindh, was an employee of a private hospital in Gilgit-Baltistan and was nominated as member of the PNMC. It added that Farzana Zulfiqar was neither an employee of the GB government nor a domicile holder of the region. The appointment appeared to be in violation of the regulations.
Responding to the query, the FIA official said that currently Farzana Zulfiqar was on leave but the inquiry would continue.
