LAYYAH, Sept 6: Thirteen ‘illegal’ appointments of low-cadre officials in the health department made by the district government last year have come to the fore.

Dawn learnt that the administration had last year constituted a four-member recruitment committee which compiled the merit list of candidates and selected the aspirants.

The health department appointed 13 people on a three-year contract in various cadres at the District Headquarters Hospital.

Headed by the EDO (health), the committee -- EDO (finance and planning), district officers of health and coordination, and DHQ hospital medical superintendent – appointed three ward servants, three cooks, three launderers and seven sanitary workers out of 21 candidates.

Mureed Husain, Mubarak Husain and Muhammad Ismaeel became ward servants and Shehnaz Rani was appointed cook (though there is no kitchen in the hospital). Muhammad Shoaib and Muhammad Safdar were appointed launderers and the sanitary workers were: Muhammad Ismaeel, Shamal Sher, Abdul Masih, Funyas Masih, Nisar Masih, Muhammad Saleem and Muhammad Musa. Musa is not the resident of Layyah; he belongs to Bhakkar.

The appointing authority (DHQ hospital MS) issued appointment letter number PF/4538-42/DHQ on Aug 1, 2007 to the appointees.

The health facility has no relevant record of these appointments and advertisement about the vacancies, submission of applications and date of interview, though these employees on a contract have been drawing salaries for the last one year.

MS Dr Mustafa Gilani told Dawn that all these appointments were made by his predecessor Dr Chaudhry Muhammad Sadiq, and he was not aware of these appointments.

When DHQ hospital head clerk Qaisar Khan was approached for information, he said the EDO was supposed to advertise vacancies in the press (according to the local government law) and he must have all the documentation in this regard.

EDO (Health) Dr Syed Mukhtar Husain, whose immediate reply was that he could not account for these appointments because these were made a year ago by the former official, admitted having no record available with him.

Former DHQ hospital MS Muhammad Sadiq said a medical superintendent could engage employees of grades 1 to 4 on a contract but he must have the entire record with him, otherwise, any appointment was illegal.

A former MPA, Maher Fazal Husain Sumra alleged that the entire team under the district nazim had made appointments illegally, demanding that Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif order immediate inquiry into the scandal.