South Punjab doctors made to wait
Govt doctors criticise decision to ban entry of general public, Health Dept subordinates before 11 am.
LAHORE:
Government doctors from South Punjab have complained about Health Secretary Fawad Hassan Fawad’s decision to ban the entry of members of the general public and subordinates to the Health Department at the Civil Secretariat before 11 am.
A young doctor from South Punjab had been summoned to the Health Department and he travelled for 12-14 hours overnight to get to the Secretariat at 8am on Tuesday morning. But the watchman would not allow him into the Health Department offices.
“The guard told me that entry was restricted before 11am,” said the doctor, who wished to remain anonymous. “I told him that the department had called me here, but he paid no heed. Now I have been waiting three hours,” he told The Express Tribune in the grounds outside the Secretariat.
He said the department’s lack of consideration had convinced him of the need to separate Punjab into two or three provinces.
Javeed Muneer, a staff officer for the health secretary, said Fawad had banned the entry of “all irrelevant persons” before 11am to improve work efficiency at the office. “There used to be a rush of visitors and sometimes several sections of the department could not finish their file work on time because of the interruptions,” he said.
Former health secretary Hassan Waseem Afzal banned visitors completely between 1999 and 2001, but two rooms separate from the Health Department building were opened to the public to serve as a one-window help centre open till 4 pm.
A Health Department official said that Afzal’s aim at that time had been to limit the potential for clerks to get bribes. He said that Fawad should also have opened a separate section for visitors before imposing the ban.
He said that the secretary was usually busy with meetings with the chief minister in the morning and arrived at the office after 12 pm. Much of his time after that was spent with, he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 1st, 2010.
Government doctors from South Punjab have complained about Health Secretary Fawad Hassan Fawad’s decision to ban the entry of members of the general public and subordinates to the Health Department at the Civil Secretariat before 11 am.
A young doctor from South Punjab had been summoned to the Health Department and he travelled for 12-14 hours overnight to get to the Secretariat at 8am on Tuesday morning. But the watchman would not allow him into the Health Department offices.
“The guard told me that entry was restricted before 11am,” said the doctor, who wished to remain anonymous. “I told him that the department had called me here, but he paid no heed. Now I have been waiting three hours,” he told The Express Tribune in the grounds outside the Secretariat.
He said the department’s lack of consideration had convinced him of the need to separate Punjab into two or three provinces.
Javeed Muneer, a staff officer for the health secretary, said Fawad had banned the entry of “all irrelevant persons” before 11am to improve work efficiency at the office. “There used to be a rush of visitors and sometimes several sections of the department could not finish their file work on time because of the interruptions,” he said.
Former health secretary Hassan Waseem Afzal banned visitors completely between 1999 and 2001, but two rooms separate from the Health Department building were opened to the public to serve as a one-window help centre open till 4 pm.
A Health Department official said that Afzal’s aim at that time had been to limit the potential for clerks to get bribes. He said that Fawad should also have opened a separate section for visitors before imposing the ban.
He said that the secretary was usually busy with meetings with the chief minister in the morning and arrived at the office after 12 pm. Much of his time after that was spent with, he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 1st, 2010.