Attractive incentives: Notification issued to increase doctors’ allowance

PESHAWAR:

The provincial government has issued a notification to increase the allowance for doctors so as to attract them to work in rural areas.

Earlier, on December 17, 2015, Minister for Health Shahram Khan Tarakai informed the media the districts in the province have been divided into A, B and C categories on the basis of their levels of development, adding Peshawar and Abbottabad—the developed cities and top preferences of doctors for postings—have been placed in Category A. Meanwhile, districts like Nowshera, Swat, Kohat, Mardan, Charsadda, DI Khan, Lower Dir, Haripur, Mansehra, Malakand and Swabi were placed in Category B. Finally, Karak, Buner, Battagram, Chitral, Upper Dir, Hangu, Tank, Kohistan, Lakki Marwat, Shangla and Torghar were put in Category C.

The minister said the health professional allowance, Rs10,000 to Rs15,000, had been increased separately for the three categories. For specialists in the “less desirable specialties” such as anesthesia and radiology, the allowance is now Rs80,000 in Category A, Rs100,000 in Category B and those in Category C would get Rs140,000.

Similarly, the allowance was increased to Rs60,000 for Category A, Rs80,000 for Category B and Rs100,000 for Category C in the more desirable specialties.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2016.