Lower Dir: Assembly questions vacancies in health units

“If you people do not care about decorum of the house, then I will adjourn this session,” warned Speaker Chagarmati.

PESHAWAR:

Members of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly questioned vacancies for doctors in Lower Dir district before the house was disrupted by opposition members over the issue of contract lecturers.

The commotion at the session on Monday was over government’s delays in the regularisation of contract lecturers.

“If you people do not care about the decorum of the house, then I will adjourn this session,” warned Speaker Kiramatullah Chagarmati, who usually remains calm.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) lawmaker Uzma Khan brought up the issue of revamped basic health units during the question hour at the start of the session. The health department told the assembly that 77 positions for doctors were vacant in various health facilities across the district out of a total of 129 sanctioned posts.

Khan pointed out the government had constructed hospitals worth millions of rupees only to let machinery go to waste as only class-four employees had been appointed to these facilities. She was backed by Provincial Minister for Livestock Hidayatullah Khan, who belongs to Lower Dir as well.

JUI-F lawmaker Mufti Kifayatullah pointed out over the past five years, departments had made requisitions for 280 posts for specialist doctors to the Public Service Commission (PSC). However, the commission had only recommended 24 so far.

Meanwhile, Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain brought up the matter of regularisation of contract lecturers. The lecturers have been protesting outside the assembly for the past few days. Minister for Higher Education Qazi Asad passed on the blame to the PSC, as regularisation also comes under the purview of the commission. At this point, several angry opposition lawmakers asked Mian Iftikhar to make an announcement regarding the contracts.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 22^nd, 2013.