BAHAWALNAGAR: Primary and Secondary Health Care Department (PSHCD) has cancelled the recruitment of women medical officers (WMOs) at the district health authority for violating the policy and merit and “advised” the chief executive officer to initiate fresh process for the appointments as per rules.

According to a letter issued by the PHCD on November 1 (a copy of which is available with Dawn), interviews for the recruitment of WMOs were conducted on Aug 5 and 6 and the recommendations were sent by the CEO office to the department on Sept 30.

However, the letter said, the competent authority rejected the recommendations made by the district recruitment committee (DRC) for these appointments after examining them.

The department ordered the CEO office to initiate fresh process for the ad hoc appointments of the WMOs on merit and as per the recruitment policy and forward the DRC’s recommendations along with complete documents so that it could be checked and scrutinised.

According to the district health authority and the deputy commissioner office sources, a six-member district selection committee (DSC) chaired by the deputy commissioner (administrator of DHA) conducted interviews for the posts of medical officers (MOs) and WMOs.

They said total 131 WMOs and 209 MOs appeared for the interviews. Of these, 30 WMOs and 52 MOs were selected by the DSC, the sources added.

However, the sources alleged that instead of the DSC’s actual list of 30 successful WMOs, the CEO office forwarded an altered list of more than 50 WMOs to the department by fraudulently adding several rejected and absent candidates to it after receiving millions of rupees as bribe from the candidates.

They said the PSHCD, instead of investigating the matter and nabbing the officials behind the scam, simply issued an “advice” to hold the recruitment process again.

The Bahawalpur commissioner had also conveyed his concern to the health secretary over the list of WMOs forwarded by the CEO office, they added.

One of the DSCs members, requesting anonymity, told Dawn that he was not only pressurised by the CEO office to sign the altered list, but a spokesperson of a legislator of the ruling party also threatened to transfer him if he objected to the list.

He apprehended that the forged list of “successful” WMOs would be approved without any hindrance because of the political intervention and bribing a senior official in the PSHCD.

The DHA employees demanded that the DC to look into the matter as administrator of the authority and expose the elements behind the scam. They also demanded health secretary to take notice of the matter.

Health CEO Dr Asfand Yaar, who was transferred and made an OSD a day ago was not available for his comment.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2021