QUETTA - Supreme Court’s drivers earn more in monthly salaries than doctors in Balochistan, said Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar while hearing suo motu cases at the Quetta Registry on Tuesday.
Addressing the provincial secretaries, the chief justice said that the situation in Balochistan is worse than that of Sindh. “Your salary will be held back unless doctors are paid their salaries within a week,” said the CJ to Health Secretary Saleh Muhammad Nasser.
He told the Health Department to improve its performance. “There is not a single MRI machine at Civil Hospital, Quetta,” he said. “The chief secretary should ensure better equipment at hospitals.”
Health policy will be completed within a week, Advocate General said on query by the bench.
The bench includes Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Mansoor Ali.
As the hearing went under way, Chief Justice Nisar expressed serious displeasure at Secretary Saleh Nasir. He berated the top health official of the province over the deplorable state of public hospitals as well as the salaries given to young doctors.
He also lamented that the province was paying its doctors Rs24,000 a month whereas a driver of the apex court was being paid Rs35,000.
Later, appearing before the bench, the education secretary informed the court that half of the schools in the province don't have water, adding that 11,000 toilets were constructed in the province's schools in the last three years.
The education secretary informed the court further that the government was overseeing 1,135 primary schools, and admitted on court’s questioning that these institutes did not have all the required facilities.
During the hearing, the chief justice remarked that the provincial government had failed to provide good governance.
The education secretary responded further that lack of funds was restricting improvement in the sector and also blamed the teachers’ union of politicising everything.
The chief justice then instructed him to submit a policy report in 15 days.