KARACHI, Feb 16: Caretaker Chief Minister Justice (Retd) Abdul Qadir Halepota has approved recruitment of about 2,100 medical officers, specialists and nurses in the provincial health department after allowing some relaxation in the recruitment criteria laid down by the last government, it is officially learnt.

An official source said on Saturday that the Health Minister in the caretaker set-up, Fauzia Laari, held a meeting with the chief minister earlier in the day and convinced him that an immediate approval was essential to enable the government to meet the crippling shortage of medical and paramedical staff in the heath care facilities in the rural and urban areas. “This will also provide relief to hundreds of qualified applicants who have been waiting for appointment letters for several months,” she reportedly maintained.

The applicants had emerged successful in a written test for jobs in the categories of general physician/medical officer (grade 17), specialists (grade 18) and the nursing cadre (grade 16). The test was conducted on Nov 4 and the results were announced a couple of weeks later. The successful candidates were to be called for an interview and a final selection was to be made in accordance with the criteria finalised by the then health minister. The appointment letters were to be issued after an approval by the then chief minister.

However, according the official source, the caretaker chief minister has ordered the officials concerned to issue offer letters to the successful candidates. The qualified candidates include 300 specialists, 1,500 medical officers and 300 nurses.

When contacted, Fauzia Laari said the jobs were being offered on a one-year contract basis and posting at the place of their domicile. For the continuation of the service, the employees would have to prove their ability and worth, besides fulfilling the requirements set by the government during the period.

She observed that the shortage of doctors and nurses had become a serious concern and it was felt that any further delay in the recruitment would definitely hamper the functioning of various health care centres in the province. The formality of interviewing the candidates had been dropped to avoid further waste of time and save them from unnecessary trouble, she maintained.