QUETTA: The Balochistan government has dismissed another 72 doctors for prolonged unauthorised absence, Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti said on Saturday, as he outlined wider disciplinary action against public employees.
According to Bugti, the latest dismissals brought the total number of government employees removed over unauthorised absence to 200. He shared the announcement on X alongside an official notification concerning the dismissed staff.
The doctors include medical officers and senior medical officers in Grades 17 and 18. The report cites the Balochistan Employees Efficiency and Discipline Act, 2011, as the legal basis. Bugti put cumulative salary deductions for attendance and disciplinary violations at Rs410 million.
He also reported that 11,000 employees had received show-cause notices over negligence and failure to perform their duties. Departmental proceedings against another 800 government employees remained under way. Those proceedings are separate from the dismissals already announced.
Alongside the disciplinary figures, Bugti announced an artificial intelligence (AI)-based attendance system in the provincial Health Department. He described it as the department’s first such system, intended to monitor attendance and strengthen accountability. His announcement did not detail how the technology would work or which facilities it would cover.
Bugti maintained that public employees must fulfil their responsibilities honestly and that the government would not permit staff to receive salaries while remaining absent from work.
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Provincial Health Minister Bakht Muhammad Kakar said the dismissals formed part of efforts to improve the department’s functioning under the chief minister’s directions.
Kakar linked the action to the government’s commitment to deliver healthcare services and warned against medical staff negligence. He indicated that disciplinary action would continue against officials who failed to perform their responsibilities.
(With additional input sources from ARY News and The Express Tribune)
