Bureaucratic negligence in the Punjab Health Department was at its peak on Thursday when the final notification of the appointment of nurses was delayed because these posts were yet to be created, learnt Pakistan Today. Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had ordered the recruitment of 1,000 nurses on ad-hoc basis for a period of one year to provide treatment to an increasing number of dengue patients in various public-sector hospitals. The health department, in this regard, conducted interviews of nearly 3,200 candidates last month, and the final lists and orders for joining were to be displayed on Thursday.
However, scores of nurses visiting the health department to collect their orders were turned back when health officials told them that the orders had been delayed due to some “technical” issue. This created a lot of resentment among the nurses, who decried the “inefficiency” of the health officials. “We have been making rounds of the health department to get our appointment notifications, only to be informed now told that they have been delayed. We had to take leave from work and have to bear travel expense as well. They have not even given any solid reason for the delay,” one of the candidates, visiting the department to collect orders, said on condition of anonymity.
She added that the lower staff at the health department had already issued notifications to a few candidates after taking bribes, but the original copies were being withheld. Sources in the department further revealed that the health department had conducted the entire procedure without first creating the said posts. A senior health official realised this the morning the announcements were due and halted the entire process, they added.
However, a finance department official revealed that the health department had not sent any summary regarding the creation of posts of nurses. “We have also heard that the CM has announced the recruitment of nurses, but it does not mean that the finance department should start doing work of the health department as well. There is a procedure as per which the health department will have to send a summary for the creation of posts to the finance department,” the official added. The finance secretary was on a foreign tour, however, another senior official termed it lack of “bureaucratic will” to solve people’s problems. “These are only delaying tactics. If it was about their own posts, they would have shown exemplary pro-activity, but in case of nurses the health department is creating hurdles, despite the CM’s orders,” the official added.
However, Health Department Additional Secretary Khurshid Zaidi said all lists would be displayed soon, and that the posts had been created. “How can nurses join in hospitals and draw salaries if the posts have not been created?” Zaidi asked. Sources however claimed that the orders were issued upon the intervention of “high-ups”, but the tussle between the finance and health departments remained, they added.
