LAHORE, July 22: The regularisation of more than 400 contract doctors across Punjab has been delayed for indefinite period owing to some legal complications.

The chief minister about one-and-a-half months ago had announced the confirmation of the doctors working on contract, and directed the health department to issue a notification in this regard.

Official sources told Dawn on Saturday that the health department could not issue the notification because of some legal complications.

Citing reasons, the sources said the Supreme Court had earlier observed that since the contract workers were not civil servants, they were not eligible to become permanent government employees. The Medical Health Institutions Act 2003 also barred the doctors recruited on contract in 2003 from being regularised, they added.

“Unless the provincial assembly approves a legislation in this respect, the contract doctors can’t be regularised,” they confirmed. They said the law department would have to prepare a draft bill in consultation with health and finance departments and forward it to the cabinet for approval. Then it would be tabled in the assembly for making it a law, they added.

It is learnt that the health department will constitute a committee, comprising the officials of the departments concerned to look into the matter, shortly.

A senior doctor criticised the chief minister for announcing the regularisation without bothering to know the legal complications in its way. At least the health department senior officials or provincial health minister should have informed the chief minister about the glitches, he added.

Punjab health secretary Javed Malik was not available for comments.