ISLAMABAD: An ‘advice’ sent by the Prime Minister Office to replace the technical head of the Prime Minister’s Polio Monitoring Cell, Dr Altaf Bosan, with a federal minister’s brother created ripples in the Ministry of National Health Services on Saturday.

The employees of the ministry and the polio cell were of the view that instead of holding political personalities, leading campaigns against the crippling disease, responsible for the failure to curb polio, the axe would fall on workers.

However, by Saturday evening, confusion arose over Dr Bosan’s status. Since he was on the payroll of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, he could not be replaced without the organisation’s consent.

Minister of National Health Services Saira Afzal Tarar, while talking to Dawn, confirmed that an advice had been received from the Prime Minister Office to replace Dr Bosan with Dr Umer Qadir Baloch, a grade-21 officer.

“The advice reached the ministry when I was attending a meeting of the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) in the United Kingdom. I have instructed the secretary of my ministry to write to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation about the advice.

Ministry of health advised to replace polio monitoring unit’s head with Dr Umer Qadir Baloch

“Dr Bosan is not a government employee, so we will wait for the reply of the foundation,” the minister said.

It is pertinent to mention here that the government has failed to eradicate the poliovirus from the country. On Friday Pakistan broke its previous record of having the highest number of polio cases, when it reported 202nd case, surpassing 199 recorded in 2000.

An official of the ministry, requesting not to be identified, said rumours spread in the ministry on Saturday that Dr Bosan had been replaced with a Grade-21 officer, who was the brother of a federal minister.

“Last week, an advice was sent by the PM Office to consider the officer as the head of the technical unit in the Prime Minister’s Polio Monitoring Cell,” he said.

“Initially, the federal minister tried to appoint his brother as a coordinator for the recently-established Emergency Operation Centre (EOC).

“However, when the minister learnt that his brother would be offered only Rs150,000 monthly salary, he managed to move the advice to consider him as head of the technical unit with a monthly salary of Rs650,000,” he said.

There seems to be a misunderstanding because Dr Bosan is working for Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and receives his salary from the foundation, the official said.

“How can the PM Office advise the ministry to remove a person who is paid by an international organisation,” he added.

When Dr Bosan was contacted by Dawn, he said though he had not received anything in writing he was shocked to know that he was being removed from the post.

“I am an employee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and assist the Prime Minister’s Focal Person who has been playing a leadership role in the polio monitoring cell,” he said.

“My status in polio eradication is the same as that of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) employees,” he said.

An official of the ministry on the condition of anonymity, however, said Dr Bosan was a government servant but in January 2012 he proceeded on leave and joined the international organisation.

His leave expired in January 2014 after which he applied for an extension.

“The government can order him to join his work but it cannot appoint any person in his place because currently he is the employee of an international organisation. It is only the foundation that can replace him because it pays him the salary. The advice will become an embarrassment for the government,” he said.

When contacted, National Coordinator for Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq said she was visiting her village to celebrate Eid and was not aware of any development.

“As far as I know, Dr Bosan is still the head of the technical unit and will continue working on the post.”

Despite repeated attempts, Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Javed Aslam could not be contacted for comments.

Published in Dawn, October 5th , 2014