Services of 1,702 absconding doctors terminated in Sindh

KARACHI: The Sindh Health Department on Thursday terminated the services of 1,073 absconding doctors who were absent from their duties for years or even decades, officials said adding that some of the doctors were even absent from their duties for 35 years but they remained in the seniority lists for promotions into next grades.

Earlier on July 25, the Sindh Health Department had terminated the services of 629 absconding doctors, who were asked to report to the health department but they failed to do so despite issuance of show cause notices and advertisements in national dailies.

“Today, the Sindh Health Department has finally terminated 1,073 doctors who were absent from their duties for years. Many of them joined medical varsities, other institutions and some even went abroad but their names remained on the seniority lists,” an official of the Sindh Health Department told The News on Thursday.

The health department also issued a notification regarding ‘Removal from Service’ of these 1,073 doctors on Thursday, saying as per the E&D Rules 1973, these “absconding doctors” were given several show cause notices and on July 27, they were given a final show cause notice but they did not respond. The notification further said the these doctors’ names were also published in the leading Urdu, English and Sindh language dailies but these absconders did not respond and after issuance of final notices, they were removed from the service.

The health department also issued the list of 1,073 doctors whose services were terminated and officials said around 300 doctors also responded to the show cause notices and apprised the department that they were serving at various institutions and departments, upon which their services remained safe.

In addition to sacking these 1,073 doctors, the Sindh Health Department also issued a final show-cause notice to 1,207 other doctors who are on ex-Pakistan leave for training, directing them to join their duties immediately or they too would be removed from service and their posts would be filled with fresh appointments.

Talking to The News, a senior official of the provincial health department said now that over 1,702 doctors have been terminated, these posts are vacant and the health department would soon start the hiring process to fill these posts.

“These posts are lying vacant all over Sindh and there are dozens of hospitals, institutes, and health facilities which are facing shortage of doctors. With the dismissal from service of these absconding doctors, the health department is now in a position to hire young doctors who could serve people in their native areas and districts,” the official said. Majority of health facilities in Sindh from Kashmore to Dadu and Thatta to Mithi are facing an extreme shortage of doctors as most of the doctors from these districts don’t want to serve in these areas due to lack of facilities, experts said adding that many of the doctors who were hired for far-flung areas of the province, never went to places of their postings and remained absent from their duties for years.