Merit has apparently completely been ignored while recruiting BPS grade-17 medical officers at the Sahiwal District Headquarters (DHQ) Teaching Hospital, Bol News has learnt.
As per the details, the post of grade-17 medical officers was advertised in the newspapers in November 2021 for 42 medical officers and for which around 250 medical graduates had applied for the post, including 150 graduates of the Sahiwal Medical College, whereas around 100 other medical graduates also applied for the vacancies. Punjab’s health department constituted a selection board under the chairmanship of the principal, Sahiwal Medical College Professor Dr Rashid Qamar Rao, while the members of the board included the Medical Superintendent (MS) DHQ Teaching Hospital Sahiwal Dr Abdul Waheed, former principal Sahiwal Medical College Dr Zahid Kamal, head of the Anatomy Department Sahiwal Medical College Dr Amin and individuals from the Specialized Healthcare Department.
Selection criteria
One of the members of the board informed Bol News that the selection criteria for the posts of medical officers, which were advertised, was that 60 per cent weightage was to be given to the academic performance of the candidates while 40pc weightage was to be given to interviews.
Misuse of authority?
A senior doctor from the DHQ Teaching Hospital Sahiwal has claimed that the selection criteria was good, but what was surprising was the way merit was completely ignored in the selection of the 42 medical officers as only four of the institution’s own graduates were selected from Sahiwal and the remaining were either Nishtar graduates, relatives of the local Young Doctors Association (YDA) doctors or graduates of Chinese institutions.
“How come our top scorers from the Sahiwal Medical College including Dr Noor Mohammad, Dr Samina and Dr Rabia were not selected when the weightage for academic performance was 60pc and all of whom have excelled during the time they were studying here and received gold medals?” he said while claiming some of the selected graduates were “mediocre”.
“This clearly shows how merit was ignored while appointing the medical officers”, he concluded.
According to the data available, relatives of the chairman YDA Sahiwal who were graduates of a private medical college were selected against merit.
According to additional details the list of relatives appointed to the posts is a considerably long one.
The sources from the hospital while confirming the authenticity of the data and the details available to Bol News confirmed that out of 42 medical officers at least seven individuals were selected on the recommendations of the YDA, while nine officers were selected from the Nishtar Medical College and the remaining were either graduates of Chinese institutions or belonged to private institutions.
While talking to Bol News, Dr Noor Mohammad, who topped among the male students at the Sahiwal Medical College last year, informed that he was shocked to see the final list of the selected candidates as he was among the top scorers during his MBBS and also performed satisfactorily during the interview.
“I was not selected because merit was ignored for the appointment of the medical officers. How come the four candidates who were selected from Sahiwal are not even classified as average students were appointed at important posts?”, he questioned.
Mohammad claimed that they also contacted the health secretary but he did not pay heed to the matter. So, after that they are left with no other option than to seek legal help, he added.
Agreeing with him, Dr Rabia Ahmad who received three gold medals during her MBBS and was a top scorer among female graduates told Bol News that she burnt the midnight oil during her MBBS and always gave priority to becoming a doctor.
I never expected this to happen, and will fight a legal battle now, she concluded.
Agreeing with her, Dr Samina, a gold medallist in the discipline, shared similar sentiments and vowed to resolve the matter in the court of law.
‘Merit was followed’
However, responding to the allegations, the medical superintendent of the DHQ Teaching Hospital Sahiwal Dr Abdul Waheed, who was a member of the selection board of medical officers, said the allegations are absolutely baseless and merit was completely followed for the selection process under the chairmanship of Principal Sahiwal Medical College Professor Dr Rashid Qamar Rao.
“We followed the proper selection criteria and everyone was selected on merit as members of the Specialized Healthcare Department were also part of the board”, he concluded. This correspondent tried to contact selection board chairman Prof Dr Rao several times but he could not be reached for comment.
