PESHAWAR, April 2: The ongoing tug of war between the health minister and the director-general of health department, a serving army brigadier, has entered a crucial stage, as the provincial government for the fourth time sent a letter to the defence ministry, asking it to withdraw the brigadier’s services, a well-placed source told Dawn on Wednesday.

The source said Brigadier Dr Habibur Rehman had been appointed DG health department by the former government on contract basis for two years. His contract would expire in October this year, they added.

Apart from holding the post of the DG Health, Mr Rehman, also held the additional charge of acting Chief Executive of the Lady Reading Hospital.

Having complete support of the provincial governor, he handled the departmental matters single-handedly, the source added.

According to another source, Brigadier Rehman took such steps in the name of reforms that many people believed proved disastrous for the health department.

He also introduced the controversial institutional-based practice (IBP) which came under fire in the maiden session of the Frontier Assembly and indications were that the new system would be abolished in near future.

The MMA government wanted to appoint a person of its liking as the incumbent DG health was reluctant to follow the government directives, the source said, adding that the army official had earned a reputation of being a straightforward person who followed rules of business in all matters.

The source said at present there was no proper coordination among the new managers of the health department and the DG Health, which was not only giving birth to numerous problems but was also affecting the performance of the department.

According to the source, the DG Health was not paying attention to the directives of the provincial health minister, which was causing embarrassment to the government.

“Every new minister wants to introduce changes in the administrative set up to be able to implement agenda of his party. The new minister is no exception, who after initiating certain steps at the secretariat level is now moving towards the higher level,” an official of the department said.

An uncertain situation exists at the health directorate at present because the government is finding it hard to pressure the DG health into carrying out its directives, which is hampering the working of the department.