PESHAWAR: Senior doctors working in management cadre in health have been waiting for promotion from BPS-19 to BPS-20 despite fulfillment of criteria for the last five years.

Of late, the health department has initiated the process to promote them but the summary is yet to be returned from the establishment department, according to sources.

“A summary has been sent to establishment department by health department for approval but there is no response due to which most of the BPS-20 positions are held by junior doctors,” they said. They added that the summary was resent to the establishment department after health department addressed the reservations raised by the former.

Sources said that there were 41 posts of BPS-20 in management cadre of health department but 31 of them were lying vacant because of non-promotion of the doctors. They added that only 10 of those positions were filled.

They said that junior officials were working against BPS-20 positions. The province had 25 posts of district health officers (DHOs) in BPS-20 but more than half of them were presently occupied by BPS-18 or BPS-19 doctors, they added.

“Two years ago, management cadre doctors were promoted from BPS-18 to BPS-19 but the doctors in BPS-19 have not been promoted to PBS-20 despite availability of positions,” said sources. They said that many of the BPS-19 doctors, whose promotion to 20 was overdue, were on the verge of retirement. A doctor, who had been working in health department since late 90s, was likely to retire within a month or two in BPS-19, they added.

The same doctor and more than 24 others were qualified to be promoted to PBS-20 but the delay by establishment department to approve the seniority list stood in their way, sources said.

Health Secretary Syed Imtiaz Hussain Shah told Dawn that the summary was again sent almost a week back after another round of observations by establishment department. “Meeting of provincial selection board is also awaited,” he added.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2021