NAUSHAHRO FEROZE, Aug 17: Doctors, paramedics and technicians at the Dialysis Centre have not been paid salary for July and advance salary for Eid despite an announcement by the chief minister he had made during his visit to the town along with cabinet members.

According to doctors, the centre does not even have funds for buying medicines required for the process of dialysis. No allocations were made for the centre in 2012-13 budget, they said.

The centre, which has 10 dialysis machines and caters to 110 chronic patients of kidney, 50 registered and 60 unregistered, was about to close in January this year because of lack of funds but the chief minister threw it a lease of life after reports appeared in media abut the centre.

When the CM visited Naushahro Feroze on Aug 4 along with his cabinet members, Deputy Commissioner Ghanzanfar Ali Shah informed him about the centre’s problems and the CM announced Rs15 million grant but funds had not been released to date.

The doctors and staff members said that medicines required for running dialysis machines were about to end.

The technicians belonging to Badin, Sujawal, Thatta, Rawalpindi and other areas looked visibly perturbed. They said that they could not go to their villages empty handed because they had not been paid salary nor Eid advance.

They appealed to the chief minister to order immediate release of funds to save the centre from closure.

District Health Officer Dr Ali Gohar Dahiri said that he had handed over a request along with required documents to the provincial health secretary during his visit to Naushahro Feroze along with chief minister. He had again sent a reminder to heath authorities in Karachi for release of funds but they had not done the needful thus far.