QUETTA (The Thursday Times) — Balochistan’s Health Department on Saturday dismissed 72 government doctors for prolonged absence from duty after they were flagged by an artificial intelligence-based attendance system, taking the number of health employees sacked in the crackdown to 200.
The medical officers and senior medical officers, in grades 17 and 18, were removed with immediate effect under the Balochistan Employees’ Efficiency and Disciplinary Act, 2011, for unauthorised absence, according to a notification from the provincial health secretary.
Officials said Rs410 million had so far been deducted from employees’ salaries over absenteeism, notices had been issued to 11,000 staff seeking explanations for breaches of attendance rules, and departmental action was under way against another 800.
“We have zero tolerance for absenteeism and negligence among medical staff and doctors in the performance of their official duties,” Health Minister Bakht Muhammad Kakar said, adding that the doctors had ignored repeated notices to report for duty. He said the reforms were being carried out on the instructions of Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti, with attendance at government hospitals and health centres now monitored through the AI system.
