LAHORE, Jan 26: "Thank you very much, I don't want this post." This has been conveyed to the Punjab government by 12 senior doctors of grade 20 in response to interview call letters issued for the Mayo Hospital medical superintendent (MS), a source told Dawn on Thursday.

The source said in all 17 senior doctors were issued call letters by a committee of the King Edward Medical University (KEMU) syndicate for interview. The priced post has been lying vacant since the transfer and posting of Dr Zahid Pervez as Punjab health director general.

Of the 17 doctors, 12 refused to even appear for interviews.

Those who turned down the call on certain grounds best known to them include: Lahore General Hospital MS Dr Muhammad Ahsan, Jinnah Hospital MS Dr Afzal Shaheen, Rahim Yar Khan Shaikh Zayed Hospital PMO Dr Javed Akhtar, EPI Director Dr Arshad Iqbal Dar, Nishtar Hospital PMO Dr Muhammad Zafar Yaseen, Holy Family Hospital PMO Dr Muhammad Husain Baloch, DG Khan Health Services Director Dr Shahid Hussain Bhatti, Faisalabad Director Health Services Dr Rasheed Ahmad, Services Hospital PMO Dr Mushtaq A Qureshi, Muhammad Zafar Iqbal Niazi (awaiting posting), MNCH Provincial Coordinator Dr Zafar Iqbal and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital MS Dr Ijaz Sheikh.

Of the remaining five candidates interviewed by a committee, headed by KEMU vice-chancellor Prof Dr Asad Aslam, three were finalised for the post. Candidates on the final list are: Lahore Health Services Director Dr Tanveer Ahmad, Punjab Medical Faculty Secretary Dr Muhammad Javed and former Bahawalpur Victoria Hospital MS Dr Abdul Qayum.

The selection was made on the basis of seniority, experience and academic qualification of the candidates.

The other two interviewed and rejected for the post are: Bahawalpur Victoria Hospitals Dr Mazhar Rasheed and Nishtar Hospitals Dr Javed Umer.

The committee forwarded the finalists' name to the department concerned for further consideration.