DADU, Feb 19: The Civil Hospital, the biggest hospital in Dadu district, is functioning without a chest department and an orthopaedic department. Besides, it is without any ENT and cardiology specialists.

According to a survey conducted by this correspondent, most of Dadu’s population lives below the poverty line and is prey to various diseases. In 1941, a British social worker had donated parts of a building to house a hospital. This became the Civil Hospital, Dadu, with new blocks being added over the years.

The Civil Hospital administration has increased charges for operations and normal delivery and laboratory and ultrasound tests. Bed and room charges have also been raised. Equipment has been purchased for an operation theatre and other wards of the hospital but it is not being put to optimum use. There are allegations that some of the staff work in private hospitals during duty hours.

The chairman, Dadu Citizens Action Committee, Javed Ghallo, says that the doctors and other staff of the hospital are not providing the best service to patients coming from the remote areas of the district.

He alleged that some of the hospital staff was pilfering medicines, and added that the Sindh Government was not paying attention to complaints of corruption at the hospital.

The EDO, Health, Dadu, Dr Khadim Hussain Lakhair, accepted that not all doctors at the hospital were efficiently performing their duties, but stressed that he had conducted several raids at the hospital and sent complaints about doctors found absent during duty hours. No action had been taken on his complaints so far, Dr Lakhair said.

He claimed that he had set up a system of routine checks and was getting daily reports.

The district Nazim of Dadu, Sardar Malik Asad Sikandar, said that he had received a lot of complaints about corruption at the Civil Hospital. He had directed the EDO, Health, to take stern action against “ghost” doctors and other staff. He had also written to the Sindh Government to provide some specialist doctors.

Mr Sikander said he had received some documents/fake vouchers relating to the purchase of equipment for the hospital, and he would constitute an enquiry committee soon to look into this matter.

SALARY INCREASE DEMANDED: Employees of the BHP oil and gas company boycotted work at the Zamzama gas field near Johi on Tuesday to demand an increase in salary.

They also staged a demonstration in front of main gate of the company.

Speaking on the occasion, their leader Mohammad Qasim Panhwar said that the BHP company was not paying its skilled and unskilled employees salaries equal to those of other multinational companies.

He said that hundreds of employees were working at the Zamzama gas field for years but the BHP administration was paying them low wages on daily basis.

He alleged that the company officials were embezzling money on account of the salary of the employees.

He said that the employees had demanded increase in their salaries but the administration had rejected the demand.

He said that the officials of the company were appointing outsiders and refusing to recruit the local people.