KARACHI, Nov 2: No less than 260 posts of house officers are lying vacant in five major hospitals of the province, and it is feared that funds allocated for the purpose in the provincial budget, 2003-2004, may lapse due to not filling of these posts.

Sindh Health Secretary Ashiq Hussain Memon, in a letter to Sindh finance secretary, mentioned that 141 of these posts in the Dow Medical College, Civil Hospital, 91 in Sindh Medical College, 13, in the Chandka Medical College, Larkana, and the Peoples Medical College, Nawabshah, were lying vacant.

This was further maintained that since 555 post-graduate (private) students at the above mentioned institutions, along with Sindh Government Qatar Hospital, Orangi Town, were available, so these students could be accommodated against the vacant posts against a stipend of Rs6,210 per month.

While proposing that the seats of the house officers, which remained vacant during the current fiscal year, be converted to accommodate post-graduate students, the Health secretary also recommended that 555 regular seats for these students be also created during this year at a total cost of Rs34,46,550 per year.

Although, the Finance Secretary, Malik Israr Ahmed, agreed to convert the 260 vacant seats to accommodate the students the future of 295 medical students, preparing for structured post- graduate training programmes remained at stake.—APP