KARACHI: Sindh chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has approved a summary of Sindh health department that sought the removal of 1500 doctors from service for being absent from their duties for a long period of time.
Sources at Sindh health department told that the Sindh chief minister approved the summary to terminate 1500 doctors who were absent from their duties since long, and new doctors would be recruited to fill the vacant posts.
A majority of the doctors being suspended went abroad on ex-Pakistan leaves but never reported back despite repeated reminders, while some were running private clinics and were not interested in government jobs.
Around 1213 medical officers, 139 women medical officers and 148 senior medical officers were absent from their duties. They never reported back to the Sindh health department even after several reminders, show-cause notices and warnings.
Sindh accountant general had blocked the disbursement of salaries and allowances to the absentees on the request of the Sindh health department. The Sindh health department had been paying millions of rupees on account of salaries and allowances to these long-absent doctors. The AG Sindh has now been given the task to refund the salaries and allowance.
Sindh secretary health Dr Fazalullah Pechuho has said that the Sindh CM has approved the summary. He also said that a notification would be issued on January 15, 2018.
He said that the salaries of these doctors had already been stopped through AG Sindh, and the doctors had been removed from their services over their failure to respond to the final show-cause notices sent by the Sindh health department.
