PESHAWAR, Aug 2: The government has approved hundreds of posts for doctors and it has also requisitioned the recruitment of 1,000 doctors, according to NWFP Health Minister Inayatullah Khan.

He was presiding over a meeting here on Thursday that was attended by representatives of trainee medical officers, house officers and medical superintendents of the city’s three teaching hospitals.

He said that the government had been working for doctors’ welfare and provided them with quick promotion opportunities.

The minister said: “Apart from approving hundreds of posts for doctors, the government has solved problems of the teaching cadre besides placing a requisition for recruiting 1,000 doctors with the Public Service Commission,” he said.

Elaborating on the issue, he said that a summary would be submitted to the finance department for 200 posts to accommodate trainee medical officers. Similarly, he said, a bill had also been sent to the law department for regularising doctors working on contract basis since 1995.

“Previous governments had neglected requisitioning for these doctors while this government is trying to accommodate them through legislation,” he said.

Under a four-tier formula, 20 posts of BPS-20 and 100 posts of BPS-19 were also being created, he said.

The minister said that the Post-Graduate Medical Institute’s hostel had already been completed while a hostel at the LRH would be built this year. He said that the Khyber Teaching Hospital had been allowed to hire accommodation for the trainee medical officers.

According to the minister a 26-room hostel would be completed by the end of August at Hayatabad Medical Complex and a security plan was also being chalked out for the three teaching hospitals. A summary about promotion of 220 doctors to BPS-18 had been sent to the Provincial Selection Board while 146 posts would soon be upgraded from BPS-18 to BPS-19.