KARACHI, March 11: The Sindh chief secretary has asked the officer-in-charge of the Sindh School Health Service to explain the output of the 288 doctors working under his supervision.

Dr Mutawakkil Kazi has also demanded that the non-salary expenditure of the service be disclosed. The two queries were sent to the service in response to a report submitted with the chief secretary's office, said Naukhaiz A. Siddiqui, a deputy secretary, on Thursday.

Mr Siddiqui explained that the said report was silent on the two most important issues regarding the service. "The report mentioned that there were 288 doctors working for the service.

"It also mentioned that 133 seats remained vacant. But it did not say how much was spent on the functioning of the service," he remarked. Mr Siddiqui said that according to the report, submitted to the chief secretary by the supervisor of the service in response to a query made earlier, there were 155 senior medical officers, both male and female. "And there are 133 grade-17 officers who work for the service."

The sanctioned strength of the service is 421, according to the report. "Thirty-five of its officers have been deputed to the Children's Hospital North Karachi and 10 to the Landhi Medical Complex. "Some 30 officers work for the town health offices, says the report. One doctor each has been deputed to the MPA Hostel and the rangers' headquarters."