Nepotism delays Health Department inductions

LAHORE: The Punjab government postponed recruitment to fill at least 4,900 vacancies through the district governments in the health department for three weeks, because of political pressures over charges of nepotism. A Punjab government official told the press on Friday that the health minister has decided to postpone the recruitments till next month to resolve the disputes. The government has twice announced that it will fill the vacancies in various district and tehsil headquarters hospitals, basic health units and rural health centres. However, there were reports of rift between the ministers, members of Punjab Assembly and the district government officials over suggestions that many successful candidates were offered posts due to favouritism and political patronage. Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi took the notice in a party parliamentary meeting a few days ago and asked the officials concerned to ensure the decisions were made on merit. The chief minister principal secretary confirmed the complaint reports, however, he ruled out that jobs were allocated through political pressure. —Staff Report

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