LAYYAH: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has awarded penalties to six health officials, including the former executive district officer (EDO) heath and medical superintendent (MS) of the district headquarters hospital, for negligence under the Punjab Employees Efficiency Discipline Accountability (PEEDA) Act 2006.

In 2015, 29 patients had got eye infection after being operated upon by eye surgeon Zeeshanul Haq Mirza. Twenty patients with severe eye infection were shifted to the Nishtar Hospital Multan whereas two persons lost their eyesight and seven people lost 70pc of their ability to see.

The case was a reported by TV channels and the chief minister ordered an inquiry into it. The inquiry report was forwarded to him but he rejected it, observing that the officials had failed to defend themselves against the charges and the penalties recommended by the inquiry officers did not commensurate with the severity of allegations. The CM ordered an inquiry under PEEDA Act 2006 and appointed Mrs Abdullah Shahid as inquiry officer.

After the inquiry, show-cause notices were issued to the then EDO health Dr Sajjad Sarwar and five officials of DHQ Hospital, including MS Dr Sadiq Mehmood Sohrani, eye surgeon Zeeshanul Haq Mirza, ophthalmic technician Sheikh Faiz, Dispenser Shamshad Ahmad, and storekeeper Naeem Khalid.

After completion of the due process, the CM imposed different penalties on them. One increment of Dr Sarwar and Dr Sohrani was held for three years. Eye Surgeon Mirza’s promotion was forfeited for five years. Technician Rasool, dispenser Shamshad Ahmad and storekeeper Naeem Khalid were awarded forfeiture of five years service.

The Punjab primary and secondary healthcare secretary has issued letter in this regard.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2018