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PESHAWAR: Treasury members in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Monday expressed concern over the appointment of the non-local health workers and clerical staff in government hospitals in the far-off areas of the province, especially in the merged tribal districts.
During a session chaired by Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, the lawmakers said that the provincial government’s policy declaring health workers and clerical staff working below BPS-16 was faulty. They insisted that the appointment of non-locals to those positions didn’t serve the purpose as such people often avoided performing their duties in the distant duty stations.
The issue was raised by treasury member Asif Khan Mehsud, who sought the chair’s ruling to stop the process of such appointments in Upper South Waziristan.
In a calling attention notice, he said that the Education Testing and Evaluation Authority has conducted tests for the posts in various districts to fill hospital vacancies.
Chair refers matter to relevant standing committee for recommendations
“It has come to our notice that in the said districts, candidates from other districts were given preference and appointed, while the qualified and eligible candidates from the local district were ignored,” he said.
Mr Mehsud said that the issue was causing resentment among the local educated youths.
He said due to the geographical conditions, continued unrest in the tribal districts and the existing administrative structure, it was difficult to appoint and retain non-local individuals on a permanent basis.
“It has been seen that all such non-local appointments have eventually left their posts after some time and gone to other districts’ hospitals and BHUs, rendering those facilities non-functional. Despite spending millions of rupees, the local population is deprived of basic treatment and medical facilities, as local residents are not appointed,” he said.
The lawmaker said appointments to health department posts in Bajaur and Upper and Lower Dir should be made on a priority basis from among the local candidates only.
He added that the current ETEA quota for non-locals should be immediately revoked so that the rights of the youth of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are not violated, he said.
Mr Mehsud informed that house that the ETEA had conducted the test in which most of the local candidates had failed as they couldn’t compete with the candidates from Peshawar and other developed districts.
He demanded of the chair to issue a ruling and stop the process until the rules are changed.
Law minister Aftab Alam Afridi also supported the lawmaker on the issue and said non-locals were appointed to various law cadre posts in Kohat hospitals as well.
“It’s strange that a BPS-12 post in the health department has been declared the provincial cadre one. This should be changed and declared the district cadre just as the elementary and secondary education department declared posts in grades up to 16 the district cadre ones.
MPA Ikramullah Ghazi said that the issue had been reported in Mansehra district.
“The non-locals cannot perform duties in the far off regions of Oghi,” he said, urging the government to give preference to the locals for such appointments in the “larger public interest”.
The chair directed the government to change the rules to pave the way for the appointments of locals.
The speaker referred the matter to the relevant standing committee of the house for detailed discussion and recommendations with the directions to withhold the process of appointments until the committee decides the matter.
The chair adjourned the session until June 1 due to a lack of quorum.
Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2026
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