SAHIWAL: After 60 days of Chief Minister Inspection Team (CMIT) report, Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education (SHC&ME) Secretary Azmat Mahmood took action under the Peeda Act 2006 against six senior officials of the Sahiwal Teaching Hospital (STH) and two senior officers of the Communication & Works (C&W) Sahiwal Circle — the superintendent engineer and the SDO — on charges of inefficiency, misconduct and corruption.

The eight officials were found guilty of involvement in financial irregularities, administrative failures, missing heavy machinery from the laundry plant and the Central Sterile Supply Department (CSSD), and use of substandard material during the upgrade of the District Headquarters Hospital to turn it into Sahiwal Teaching Hospital (STH) from 2014-15 to 2024-25.

The health secretary appointed Syed Tahir Raza (Ex-PSS/BPS-21), secretary information and culture, as the inquiry officer to conduct joint proceedings against the eight suspects, who have been directed to submit replies within seven days.

The action follows the CMIT’s inquiry findings, completed within three months, held 12 individuals responsible, including two who had retired and two who had passed away.

Six teaching hospital, two C&W officials were found guilty of misconduct in CMIT report

The final CMIT report, prepared by Convener Saqib Ali Ateel (Member General-V, CMIT), was submitted in the first week of December 2025 for disciplinary action. The report directed the secretary, SHC&ME, and the principal of Sahiwal Medical College (SMC) to implement recommendations within 30 days but it got delayed for 60 days.

It alleged flawed project design, misaligned execution, financial mismanagement, incomplete delivery, absence of purchase documentation, substandard construction, and systemic failure of institutional oversight. Reports alleged that initially, Rs3.58bn development budget was allocated for the project but costs ballooned to Rs9.31bn by FY 2024–25 — a disproportionate 160% increase.

Key components under the project included a construction of a four-storey surgical tower, different medical blocks, laundry plant, burn unit, and Central Sterilsed Supply Department (CSSD). It is learnt that CMIT inquiry (a copy seen by Dawn), launched on Sept 8, 2025, examined 33 individuals, including officials from Lahore-based contractor M/S Radiant Medical Pvt Ltd, responsible for installing the laundry and CSSD plants. Despite Rs143.4m spent on the laundry plant, it had remained non-functional for eight years, causing a financial loss of Rs48.4m.

Those proceeded against under the Punjab Employees Efficiency, Discipline and Accountability (PEEDA) Act include former SMC principals Dr Imran Hassan and Dr Akhtar Mehboob, MS Dr Nisar Ahmad Saadi, director finance Dr Muhammad Aleem, biomedical engineer Ahmer Bilal, store keeper Ali Safdar, superintendent engineer Zulfiqar Ali Tabassum (Building Department, Sahiwal Circle), and SDO Tariq Nadeem Sheikh. Four retired officials — Dr Zafar Hussain, the late Dr Abdul Aziz, Dr Mushtaq Ahmed, and the late Dr Ehsanul Haq — were also found responsible but not proceeded against under PEEDA Act.

The CMIT report accused the contractor, M/S Radiant Medical Pvt Ltd, of delaying machinery dispatch by eight years, altering specifications and breaching contractual obligations, recommending the company’s blacklisting for five years in Punjab. It further alleged that the surgical tower was built with substandard materials and imported machinery was improperly installed.

“The Finance Director and Building Department officials failed to provide handover documents for the laundry plant and CSSD, and neglected supervision — deficiencies later confirmed by the Building Research Station, Lahore,” the CMIT report stated.

It recommended a special audit of other upgraded facilities at the STH, including the Sahiwal Institute of Cardiology, new medical blocks, and the burn unit, to uncover similar irregularities.

It described the failures as a sustained pattern of systemic breakdown across planning, execution and oversight, with substantial financial losses.

Sources confirmed that Provincial Health Secretary Azmat Mahmood has been authorised to proceed against the eight officials under the PEEDA Act, 2006 while Prof Dr Muhammad Akhtar, principal of SMC, has appointed departmental representatives to execute the inquiry findings.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2026