RAWALPINDI, Aug 20: Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi here on Friday approved a new project under health sector reforms aimed at improving healthcare delivery at the grass-roots level.

The chief minister was presiding over a meeting of health department officials. The project is estimated to cost over Rs750 million. Under the project, the government is planning to upgrade all rural health centres in the province.

Medicines and electro-medical equipment would be made available at the RHCs. Provision would also be made for the maintenance of equipment as well. Constructing new buildings and renovating the existing ones is also included in the project.

The government would additionally introduce measures for improving the performance and attendance of doctors working at these centres. The Punjab government plans to achieve this target of improving doctors performance through a carrot and stick policy.

On one hand it would be giving them a large number of service- related incentives while on the other a mechanism of monitoring of their working would be put in place. The doctors at the RHCs would be provided free accommodation and transport. Besides, they are being given the incentive of private practice.

An official, talking to this reporter after the meeting, said the essence of all these reforms was to restore the confidence of the common man in the grass-root health delivery system. This would reduce the immense pressure on the tertiary hospitals.

"We want all these reforms to be working and people benefiting from them," he added while advocating the introduction of incentives for the medical staff at these centres, located in rural areas.

The Punjab government had earlier regularized the services of all contractual doctors employed with the health department. Doctors at RHCs and BHUs had been recruited on contract basis.

A committee has been constituted for the implementation of these reforms which will be headed by Punjab chief secretary Kamran Rasool. The body will submit a report to the government after making an assessment of the existing situation.

A source said after improving the RHCs, the government planned to move ahead with taking care of the basic health units (BHUs). However, only working BHUs would be rehabilitated under the scheme. Besides, the chief minister has also ordered introduction of school health programme.