KARACHI, Dec 5: Caretaker Minister for Population Welfare and Women Development, Sindh, Nadira Panjwani on Wednesday said that doctors employed in the population welfare department also deserved an allowance for not practising in the private sector and she would take up the matter with the authorities concerned in this regard.

She was talking to senior officials and other staff of the department during her visit to the reproductive health services centre run by her department at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

The minister was informed that the doctors of the Sindh health department had been getting the allowance after it was approved as an incentive to all those doctors who were not indulged in private practice while serving in the public sector.

A senior official of the department said that the aim of extending the allowance was to induce doctors to opt for their posting in rural areas of the province.

Ms Panjwani described the shortage of manpower in her department as a serious problem, and said efforts were under way to overcome it. She noted that the problem was an impediment in meeting the targets set by the government.

The minister, along with the secretary of the population welfare department visited various sections of the health centre.

District Population Officer, Karachi South, who heads the JPMC centre, informed her that the centre also served as a training institute for doctors and paramedics from Sindh and Balochistan.

He stated that refresher courses were held on a regular basis.