HYDERABAD: Senior doctors of the Sindh health department have sent a representation to the health secretary urging him to allow the look-after charge of the director general of health services to anyone from amongst senior most doctors in BS-20 grade.

Four doctors, three of them are in BS-20 grade and one is the senior-most in BS-19 grade, submitted the representation after DG Health Services Dr Juman Bahoto handed over the charge to a BS-19 doctor, Dr Waqar Mehmood Memon, on July 15.

Dr Bahoto has proceeded on ex-Pakistan leave to attend an international conference on AIDS in Canada.

The applicants are Dr Nasrullah Shaikh, Dr Shahabuddin Qureshi, Dr Sohrab Hisbani and Dr Lachman Das.

The provincial services, general administration and coordination (SGA&C) department had allowed the ex-Pakistan leave to the DG on July 13.

Claim move is in violation of high court order

The aggrieved doctors have taken exception to the fact that the DG handed over the look-after charge to a junior-most doctor in BS-19 (Dr Waqar Mehmood Memon), who was posted in the provincial directorate at Hyderabad. They believe that the action is against the prescribed law, rules and regulations.

They argued that as per the job description, an additional director general (ADG) of health services should look after the charge of DG health in his absence. They said that the ADG Hyderabad, Dr Khursheed Qureshi (BS-20), was available while six deputy director generals (DDGs) in BS-20 grade were presently posted at the directorate. These officers are Dr Nasrullah Shaikh, Dr Shahabuddin Qureshi, Dr Sohrab Khan Hisbani, Dr Mohammad Arif, Dr Nanad Lal Dewani and Dr Tazeen Memon. All of them were experienced and capable of handling official assignments, they stressed. They called for cancelling the look-after charge of Dr Waqar Mehmood and giving the same to an ADG or DDG in BS-20.

A division bench of the Sindh High Court comprising Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Adnanul Karim Memon had on Sept 21, 2021 ordered removal of all junior officers from the senior positions given to them on any ground.

Pursuant upon this order, the health department had removed then DG Health Dr Irshad Memon who, being an officer of BS-19, was serving as the DG health. After his removal, Dr Juman Bahoto was given the post on Sept 27, 2021. And now the same DG Health has handed over the charge of his office to a junior-most officer in the directorate, according to the representation.

Meanwhile, health department sources claimed on Friday that the officers who submitted the representation might be issued show-cause notices by Sindh government.

Sindh health department, in a cavalier fashion, has been dealing administrative issues/matters for which superior courts’ repeated directives were issued. The recent re-posting of a planning wing officer of health department Abdul Sattar Jatoi vide July 27 notification has been recommended by health secretary Zulfikar Shah in spite of the fact that he was removed only 26 days back by Sindh government.

Health department has recommended his posting for a position/post whose ‘re-designation’ has been held illegal by Sindh Services Tribunal and the tribunal’s order was upheld by Supreme Court. It was a clinical side post of AMS in BS-19 which the officer got re-designated only for himself as a ‘person specific’ post to deny his senior batch mate his right of promotion six years back.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2022