PESHAWAR: Several junior doctors are understood to be holding BPS-20 positions in the health department despite the availability of senior medics to fill those key slots.
Officials told Dawn that the latest such appointment was that of a BPS-17 doctor as the director to the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), a BPS-19 post at the directorate general (health services).
They said the EPI was the department’s crucial section handling immunisation matters in collaboration with Unicef and other organisations.
The officials disclosed that currently, three regional directors of BPS-19 held the health department’s BPS-20 posts.
Secretary insists such postings a temporary arrangement
When contacted, health secretary Shahidullah Khan claimed the additional or look-after charge of oneBPS-19 post at the EPI and said it was a temporary arrangement.
He said that the post would soon be assigned to a regular EPI director from a higher grade.
Sources in the health department also insisted that many posts of district health officers (DHOs) and hospital medical superintendents were held by junior doctors, ignoring those fulfilling the criteria to fill those positions.
They said assigning junior officers to manage senior posts not only deprived the deserving officers of their legal right to hold those positions but it also affected the department’s overall performance as juniors didn’t have the required skills that came through experience.
The sources said the list of junior officers holding senior posts was “very long” as regional directors (health) in South, Hazara and Malakand regions were basically BPS-19 officers though the law declared that only those with BPS-20 were eligible for those positions.
They said those posts were created by the department to ensure resolution of financial and administrative issues of employees and hospitals in the respective districts and improve patient care locally and reduce burden on the offices of directorate general (health services), which was required to deal with the provincial matters as well as those of international donors and UN agencies.
The officials said regional health directorates were set up to develop a governance structure and ensure smooth supply of medicines and equipment to hospitals at the regional level as part of a plan to devolve powers and resolve matters at the local level.
They said the director general of the Provincial Health Services Academy was a BPS-20 post but it was held by a BPS-19 officer.
The officials also said the project director at the TB Control Programme was a BPS-18 officer and even the additional director general services (human resource management) was basically a BPS-19 officer though the post required a BPS-20 management cadre doctor.
They said almost half of the DHOs and hospital medical superintendents working at the district level were junior officers although those posts needed to be filled by BPS-20 officers.
The officials said a few months ago, the government replaced many junior doctors working as DHOs and MS with senior people but still, several junior persons held the positions for which they weren’t qualified under the law.
They said most of the BPS-20 officers, who were nearing retirement, deserved to be posted as DHOs or MS in light of their decades long experience.
However, the health secretary insisted that the department wanted to fill posts with experienced and competent people to improve patient care.
He said some appointments were made as a stop-gap arrangement, so they would be replaced with those of regular senior officers subject to the availability of qualified people.
“We make all appointments to administrative and technical positions purely on merit,” he told Dawn.
Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2025
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