LAHORE: In what appears to be a case of cronyism, Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department (SH&MED) Secretary Ali Jan has been entrusted with the third post.

Jan on Thursday assumed the post of Punjab Health Facilities Management Company (PHFMC) chief executive officer. The main function of the PHFMC is to manage more than 1,000 basic health units (BHUs) of 14 districts in Punjab. He is the first secretary health who has been appointed CEO of the company. Officials say he has been assigned the post as a stopgap arrangement.

An official claims that Ali Jan expressed his wish to be appointed CEO of the PHFMC and a few members of the Board of Directors endorsed his desire. Consequently, a meeting of the Board of Directors was called, which was chaired by Sohail Ahmad and no one opposed the proposal. The board unanimously approved the name of Ali Jan for the position, he said.

He is already holding the additional charge of the secretary of Primary & Secondary Healthcare Department (P&SHD), Punjab, in addition to heading the SH&MED of the province.

“Consequent upon the approval of 24th meeting of the Board of Directors of the PHFMC held on June 30, 2022, Secretary Primary & Secondary Healthcare Department Punjab is hereby appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the PHFMC under section 187 of Companies Act 2017 with immediate effect till the appointment/arrival of regular Chief Executive Officer,” reads the notification issued here on Thursday.

Ali Jan says it’s a stopgap step to clear salaries

The official said Ali Jan had replaced Nasim Sadiq who tendered his resignation in protest against “some changes being made in the system of the PHFMC.” Sadiq was appointed CEO of the company in November 2021 when the health department had moved a summary and the cabinet accorded approval. He has 37-year experience as public servant and served against various key positions including secretary to the Punjab government in four departments.

The official said Jan was appointed secretary SH&MED in May this year by the PML-N government. Interestingly, he was facing an inquiry in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) regarding embezzlement in procurement in health sector. The inquiry was initiated against him by the NAB during the previous tenure of PML-N when he was serving as health secretary of the P&SHD.

The inquiry was still in progress, the official said, adding that after assuming charge of secretary of both health departments, he made many changes to the administrative posts. He brought most senior health officers back to both health departments, who had served under his command during his first tenure as health secretary in the PML-N government.

Defending his appointment, Ali Jan told Dawn that he had been made CEO of the PHFMC to clear the pending salaries of thousands of employees after the resignation of Nasim Sadiq. He said it was a temporary appointment and he would serve till the posting of a new CEO.

As for the appointment of those officers who had served during his previous tenure as health secretary, he said they were highly trained and experienced officers.

“During my first tenure as secretary health, these health officers had brought about drastic changes to the health facilities functioning at the peripheries of the province,” he said.

About the NAB inquiry, he said he was not called to appear in the probe for the last many months.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2022