LAHORE, Dec 6: Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi has announced increase in pay and allowances and reforms in service structure of doctors and launching of the telemedicine project in the province.

Presiding over a meeting held here on Wednesday to review the projects for upgrading health sector, he said 50 per cent postgraduate medical officers would be promoted as senior registrars and assistant professors. Allowance of house officers would be increased to Rs12,000 and postgraduate trainees to Rs15,000. The annual increment of doctors performing house jobs had also been raised to Rs1,000.

He said non-practicing allowance of doctors in grade 17 and 18 had been raised from Rs500 to Rs4,000 and those in grade 19 and 20 from Rs700 to Rs6,000. A separate administrative cadre would also be created for managing the public sector hospitals.

Mr Elahi said a telemedicine project was also being launched in the province. A helpline would be established for providing advice to the people about health problems on telephone. The people would get free medical advice and the government would have information about diseases in different parts of the province.

He said the doctors in general cadre would benefit from the service structure reforms and discharge their duties in a better way.

He said specialists would be posted in the hospitals in the district with higher salaries and fringe benefits. The doctors receiving post graduation and house physician training would be provided free medical facilities. — Reporter