LAHORE, Jan 25: Despite Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi’s commitment, services of the doctors on a contract in Punjab have not been regularised so far, it is learnt. The chief minister had in May last year announced the confirmation of some 400 contract doctors and directed the health department to issue a notification to the effect at the earliest.

A senior officer of the health department informed Dawn on Thursday that the doctors might not be confirmed owing to “some legal complications”. He said if the process of confirmation started, it would create a lot of complications in the promotion procedure of the doctors whose services had been regularised.

“Keeping in view this aspect, the authorities concerned have decided in principle that the status quo should be maintained,” he added.

Besides, he said, the Supreme Court had observed that since the contract employees were not civil servants, they were not eligible to become permanent employees. He said the Medical Health Institutions Act 2003 was another hurdle which says “the doctors recruited on a contract in 2003 can’t be regularized”.

“Unless the provincial assembly approves of a legislation in this respect, the contract doctors will continue to work in the same capacity.”

An office-bearer of the Pakistan Medical Association said bureaucracy was the main hurdle in the implementation of the CM’s directive. He also blamed infighting among the doctor bodies over the issue. He said the group of regularised doctors did not want them (contract doctors) to be confirmed as it would affect their promotion.

Punjab Health Secretary Javed Malik was not available for comments.

On the other hand, a contract doctor told this reporter that PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Husain had also made a similar announcement after becoming prime minister, but the process was in the doldrums. He said the health authorities then conveyed to a group of contract doctors that they would have to go through the public service commission’s examination for regular appointments.