HYDERABAD: Sindh health department has appointed two junior officers to senior positions, including the post of director general of Health Services Sindh, in clear violation of Sindh High Court’s orders.

Dr Irshad Memon, a senior doctor, was posted as DG Health Services Sindh despite the fact that he had been removed from the same post under Sindh High Court’s order in 2021. Being a BS-19 officer he had once again been posted by health department as per May 11 notification issued by Sindh government, Dawn learnt the other day.

Dr Memon was removed by the court on Sept 21, 2021 when then secretary of health Dr Kazim Jatoi conceded before the bench that “a BS-19 officer was acting in charge of a BS-20 post”.

The court was reminded of Sept 1, 2021 order that “directives were/are of general application and no ‘post’ has an exception from such directives.” The DG was subsequently removed from the post in the light of Sept 21, 2021 order but was reposted to the BS-20 post of project director of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) and was again posted as DG Health Services Sindh.

Dr Memon was not available for comment.

Dr Sikandar Ali Memon, another BS-19 officer was posted to BS-20 post of PD EPI Sindh. He was working to the post of BS-20 of additional DG Health Services in health directorate and again given charge of BS-20 being a junior officer. He was replaced by Dr Pir Ghulam Hussain, senior medical officer, who was working as principal of Para Medical Institute, Jamshoro.

Sources in the health department said that BS-20 ranked Dr Mubashir Kolachi, Dr Sohrab Hisbani, Dr Imtiaz Kaka, Dr Arif Khan and Dr Arif Qaimkhani who were presently posted in DG Health Services Sindh’s directorate, would now have to work as sub­­or­dinate under a junior officer.

Among them, the sources said, Dr Kaimkhani and Dr Kaka would retire next fortnight but the remaining three doctors would still have a year to serve the department yet they were not considered for the BS-20 posts. “We are ready to serve anyone who is posted as DG,” said one of the doctors.

The sources said that health ministry had interviewed 11 officers for the post of DG of Health Services, who included nine officers of BS-19 and only two officers of BS-20. It was strange that nine BS-19 officers were called for interview for a BS-20 post, said the sources.

In the Sept 21, 2021 SHC order, Justice Panhwar had made it clear that “in case at any stage this statement was found improper or wrong, the secretary of health as well as beneficiaries posted to higher grade posts will be liable to be charged under contempt of court act.

“Needless to mention that the direction ‘assigned to work’ shall not be exploited by the health department by posting officials of lower grade to higher grade [posts],” read the order.

During the hearing on Sept 1, 2021, the secretary of health along with Assistant Advocate General — as mentioned in para-3 of the order — had undertaken that “all officers posted on the basis of OPS (own pay and scale) to administrative posts will be removed within 10 days from today (Sept 1, 2021) and only senior officers of that grade will be posted as stopgap arrangement, thereby they will comply with the apex court’s judgement reported in 2014. The secretary had said that he would comply with the order as referred to in the said paras in letter and spirit”.

Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2023