LARKANA, July 11: The district government has handed over administrative control of 47 basic health units to the Sindh Rural Support Organisation (SRSO) under an agreement signed with the organisation on Feb 13 this year.

The SRSO, a private company, took control of health facilities on July 1 after reaching an accord with the district government and programme director of President’s Primary Healthcare Initiative (PPHI) Sindh, sources in the district government told Dawn on Wednesday.

The health facilities include BHUs, dispensaries, Unani Shafakhanas and mother child health centres located in the rural areas of the district. Under the agreement, the district government would pay salaries and other emoluments to the staff posted at the facilities.

The arrangement was aimed at reorganising, restructuring and reenergising the management with fine service delivery, the sources said. The three-year agreement could be terminated if either party felt that its objective had not been adequately achieved. District Nazim Mohammed Bakhsh Arijo had offered to pay Rs16 million a year to the SRSO in a letter dated June 14 to the project director of PPHI Sindh, Dr Riaz Ahmed Memon, who accepted the offer in a letter dated June 16.

The nazim had disclosed in his budget speech on June 29 that SRSO which was working under the PPHI would run 47 health facilities from July 1 and promised to provide Rs16 million budget a year to the organisation. The step would improve the performance of heath facilities even in the far off areas of the district, he said and added that a lady doctor would be available once a week at each health unit, which would have a wide spectrum of medicines instead of only 20 kinds of drugs, he said.

The members of Awam Dost Panel (ADP) in the district council had strongly opposed handing over the BHUs and said at the last session of the council that it proved the district government’s inability to run its institutions.

The district government ignored the criticism and went ahead with signing the agreement. Under the agreement, the organisation had not only taken over control of the facilities but it would also be able to post male and female doctors at the facilities, the sources said.

The new staff would be paid handsome salaries and facilities from the funds of PPHI Sindh while the district government would act as a supervisory body to monitor the organisation’s overall performance.

The district government was, under the agreement, bound to transfer the facilities’ control within 30 days of agreement but the handover was delayed due to budget.

The sources in the district health department said that many buildings of the BHUs had been occupied by police and revenue people and police had even set up police stations in some buildings. The new mangers would surely ask them to vacate the premises, said a district government official.