Cabinet approves package for industrialists to encourage investment
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Wednesday announced enhanced salary packages for doctors choosing to work in far-flung districts of the province and introduced profitable package for industrialists aimed at encouraging investment in the underdeveloped province.
“The measures with better financial benefits are designed to encourage the specialist doctors to work in remote areas,” said an official, adding that the government wanted to improve health delivery system in periphery level healthcare facilities.
The provincial cabinet also approved the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Antiquities Act, 2015, Industrial Policy 2015 and special incentive package for doctors employed in urban and rural areas of the province.
Chief Minister Pervez Khattak chaired the meeting. Health Minister Shahram Khan Tarakai and Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education Mohammad Atif Khan addressed joint press conference to explain the cabinet’s decision.
Briefing reporters about the enhanced incentives for the specialist doctors of the public sector hospitals, Health Minister Shahram Tarakai said additional cost of the package would be over Rs4 billion.
He said the aim of incentives was to upgrade healthcare facilities in the periphery and hopefully the new package would encourage doctors to work in hard areas of the province.
“The government has planned to provide modern equipment to the district headquarters hospitals. We want patients in remote areas to get every facility that is available in big cities,” he added.
He said it was obvious the doctors would not serve in remote areas without an attractive salary package.
Shahram Tarakai said 400 specialist doctors having FCPS (Fellow College of Physicians and Surgeons) would be recruited to work in the remote areas.
Also, he told The News that the medical consultants would be selected in grade-18 without appearing in any written test for the jobs.
During the briefing, the health minister said the districts had been divided in three categories on the basis of available human resources and geographical conditions.
Peshawar and Abbottabad were put in Category-A, Nowshera, Swat, Kohat, Mardan, Bannu, Charsadda, Dera Ismail Khan, Lower Dir, Haripur, Mansehra, Malakand and Swabi in Category-B and Buner, Battagram, Chitral, Upper Dir, Hangu, Karak, Kohistan, Lakki Marwat, Shangla and Torghar in Category-C.
He said the existing health professional allowance had been increased from Rs10,000 to Rs15,000.
Shahram Tarakai said doctors having specialisation in radiology, pathology and anaesthesia in Category-A would receive Rs80,000 while it will be Rs100, 000 for Category-B and Rs140,000 for Category-C. The prrofessional allowance for medical officers and dental surgeons is Rs15,000.
Under the new package, doctors in Category-A would get Rs42,000 in urban areas and Rs52,000 in rural areas. The doctors serving in the Category-B districts would receive 62,000 in urban areas and Rs72,000 in rural areas.
The doctors serving in Category-C districts would get Rs82,000 in urban and Rs92,000 in rural areas.
The financial package for health managers in Category-A doctors has been fixed at Rs56, 000, Rs76, 000 for Category-B and Rs96, 000 for Category-C.
The provincial cabinet also approved the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Antiquities Act, 2015 and Industrial Policy 2015.
The new policy and package don’t offer incentives for skilled labour and technical staff, like paramedics and nurses, who formed a tricycle for effective healthcare.
The policy has been designed with the cooperation of a foreign consultancy firm after making assessment of industrial units in 10 districts of the province and meetings with owners of sick industrial units and other stakeholders.
Under the policy, investors would get five percent interest on financing for five years for new and expansion projects and would be entitled to the incentive till June 2017.
It suggested 25 percent discount on acquisition of land for establishing new industrial estate, besides getting 25 percent refund of electricity bill for three years on special and unique units.
Investors would also receive 25 percent discount on transportation of new imported machinery and 25 percent grant of equity investment for women entrepreneurs subject to maximum of Rs3 million per investor.
Mohammad Atif Khan, who is an industrialist, said the new policy was aimed at providing job opportunities to unemployed youths. He said it would help promote units for which raw material was available locally.
