PESHAWAR: The medical teaching institutions have yet to enforce uniform service rules and pay structure for the employees in accordance with the decision of Policy Board taken last year, according to sources.

The board was established in 2019 through an amendment to the Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Act, 2015 following reports about difference in salaries of the employees working on same positions in different medical teaching institutions.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has extended MTIRA to 10 hospitals and their affiliated medical colleges since its passage by the provincial assembly in 2015.

Employees working on same positions in various institutions get different salaries

The law is meant to grant financial and administrative autonomy to medical teaching institutions where all the decisions are made by the respective board of governors.

Prior to enforcement of MTIRA, health department administered these institutions.

The Policy Board was established through an amendment to MTIRA in 2019 to ensure that all MTIs pursue uniform policy with regard to services rules, salaries, institution-based practice, etc.

However, the MTIs continue to keep intact different pay structure and services rules despite warning by the board.

Dr Nausherwan Burki, the chairman of the board, asked all the BoGs of the MTIs in August last year about complaints regarding flouting of rules and regulations notified as per law. He ordered immediate rectification of the same.

“All newly-appointed people will be employees of MTIs while civil servants will resign before receiving the contract. At that point they cannot request deputation and the BoGs should go for their second choice for appointment for the position,” he said.

The MTI should have its own employees and civil servants could be employed on deputation at the request of board to the respective department only when suitable person wasn’t available to fill the position despite advertisement and interviews, he wrote.

However, the situation remains unchanged in the MTIs where many top positions are held by civil servants as the boards have requested their deputation.

The MTIs are struggling to show improvement with system which is mixture of civil and MTIs employees, according to sources.

In some MTIs, medical directors (MD) get Rs300,000 salary a month while their counterparts in other MTIs receive Rs500, 000 or more. Same is true for hospital directors, whose salaries range between Rs300,000 to Rs600,000.

“A few MTIs have appointed associate hospital director (AHD), with their package ranging between Rs100,000 to Rs600, 000. Position of AHD isn’t reflected in the MTIRA 2015,” said sources.

People have also been recruited on the post of director finance by MTIs on different salaries.

They receive Rs300,000 to Rs500,000 in different MTIs.

Dr Nausherwan Burki, who is spearheading the enforcement of the MTIRA, told Dawn that MTIs were free to create any post to appoint temporary people so long as they had the budget.

“For a permanent appointment, the MTIs would have to advertise it in the usual way,” he added.

He said that internal appointments on temporary basis could be made by the respective boards.

A nursing director appointed in MTIs gets Rs200,000 to Rs600,000 monthly. Other employees, such as doctors, nurses, paramedics and administrative and finance staff receive different salaries and grades.

Some MTIs give share to their employees in the income generated from the fees of patients in lieu of their investigations while others have stopped the practice.

Dr Burki said that policy board reviewed the performance of all MTIs regularly and issued them instructions to rectify any violation.

The boards are authorised to create new positions, abolish the old posts and re-designate them, according to the MTIRA 2015.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2021