KARACHI, June 14: An amount of Rs500 million is likely to be allocated for various health care facilities lying non-functional for want of the SNE (sanctioned new expenditure) across the province, a source in the Sindh health department said.

The allocation would be announced in the budget 2007-08 being presented on Friday. An increase of up to Rs10,000 in the monthly stipend for doctors undertaking postgraduate training is also likely to be announced.

There are about 240 health care units, 61 of them in Karachi, that have been built and completed over the last couple of years but could not be made functional owing to the non-availability of the required funds with the district governments concerned.

The Sindh government has decided to allocate a one-time special grant to the district governments in order to enable them to launch the facilities. The district governments are supposed to pump in money in future, a source said, adding that the special funds would be provided to districts only for one year.

According to the source, the health department is likely to get an allocation of Rs7.4 billion on revenue side and Rs1.2 billion for its development programmes for the new financial year.

The stipend for the doctors opting for studies is reportedly being raised from Rs6,000 to Rs10,000 per month in the new financial year whereas the doctors would be given the choice between continued job at their place of posting or proceeding abroad for higher studies/training on leave without pay.The Sindh government will also employ about 500 doctors and 350 paramedical staff on a three-year contract basis in the ensuing financial year.

The posts, which would be district-oriented, will be filled through written tests and interviews. It is likely that many such contractual doctors will be regularised within a period of two years after meeting the requirements of the Sindh Public Service Commission, added the source.

Justifying the proposed shift in policy in the case of postgraduate doctors, the source said that authorities were of the view that leave without pay would save the government a huge sum of money on account of the salaries and perks meant for such doctors, numbering over 350, and create a room for the appointment of doctors on a temporary basis for the period when these doctors were on deputation for training.

Regarding a shortage of doctors in the government hospitals, particularly those in remote and rural areas, the source said that it had been a source of concern for the government for long.