PESHAWAR, June 10: Provincial Health Minister Inayatullah Khan announced on Friday that a 3-tier formula had been approved in principle for district specialists.

The minister said the move would offer fresh promotion opportunities to district specialists and help remove some of their grievances.

The remarks were made during the minister’s meeting with a representative delegation of district specialists which included Dr Khalid Mehmood, Dr Zakir Ahmed, Dr Shaukat Jamal Amirzada and Dr Abdur Rauf. The director-general health, Dr Jalilur Rehman, also attended the meeting.

The delegates complained about the absence of a proper service structure and demanded a suitable mechanism for the promotion of district specialists to the next grade, according to an official handout.

Responding to their demand, the health minister said that the spadework had already been done and that district specialist would be offered quick chances of promotion. According to the minister, the finance department had approved in principle the summary moved for the purpose.

The provincial government has initiated steps to provide health workers with better working conditions. A four-tier formula already approved for general cadre doctors will offer chances of promotion to more than 1,000 doctors and the recent decision will facilitate the promotion of 391 district specialists in BPS-18 in the public sector to the next grade.