HYDERABAD: Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has said his government doesn`t like brain drain and, therefore, wants to provide jobs to doctors if they are ready to serve the ailing humanity within their home districts at least for a specific period.

He was speaking at the 13th convocation of the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) here on Thursday.

Congratulating the passing out medical and dental batches, he reminded them of their prime duty of serving humanity.

Mr Shah explained how his government had been struggling to manage healthcare facilities in the droughthit Tharparkar district despite all odds. He regretted that doctors were posted there but they were not performing their duties.

Responding to a request made by Vice Chancellor Noshad Shaikh, Mr Shah announced a grant of Rs300 million for a 2,000-seat international conference hall, and said the amount would be increased if and when needed.

`We need more doctors, specialists, professionals and post-graduates,` he said, and offered government jobs to fresh medical graduates provided they were ready to serve in their home districtsfor three-four years.

`We lag behind in education, which needs to be improved right from the primary and secondary to the professional level,`he said.

Recounting his government`s measures to containbrain drain, the chief minister said that a four-tier formula had been introduced to ensure automatic promotion of doctors to their next grade; doctors` emoluments had been doubled; education budget increased to Rs25 bil-lion; and budget for development in the health sector was raised to Rs14 billion from Rs1.5 billion.

He also agreed with the VC that establishment of trauma centres along highways were needed. Mr Shah said he had no objection over the proposal to set up a LUMHS campus on Superhighway for foreigners and Pakistani expatriates.

He said the issue of land for the campus would be discussed with the governor.

Health Minister Dr Saghir Ahmed thanked the chief minister for including the pharmacy college and international conference hall schemes in the provincial ADP.

He said the government was committed to establishing medical colleges at district level.

The chief minister also laid the foundation stones of the 500-bed teaching hospital and the pharmacy college.

Earlier, Prof Shaikh in his opening remarks praised the Sindh government`s continu-ous assistance to the LUMHS. He thanked the chief minister and the health minister for giving their approval for a 500-bed hospital and pharmacy college.

`Lucrative departments not yet devolved` Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, speaking to the media after addressing the convocation, said that the federal government did not fulfil its commitment to keep releasing Sindh universities` grants until five years after the passage of the 7th NFC Award.

At the time of signing the award, the Centre had pledged to keep releasing the grants for the next five years, he said, and regretted that.the commitment was breached.

Mr Shah said that the Sindh government, like the previous year, allocated Rs5 billion for universities and the amount would be progressively increased as per the standard/requirement.

The chief ministerrecalledthat the concurrent list had been fully abolished and many subjects including education and health, devolved to provinces, the federal government was yet to devolve half of the departments supposed to be given under provincial control.

`The departments that are more lucrative have not been devolved as yet,` he said.

In reply to a question about relief distribution in Tharparkar, Mr Shah said that unlike the past governments, which had provided wheat to the affected family at a subsidised rates, his government had been distributing the commodity free of cost for the last three years.

He said that about 50,000 drought-hit families had already are covered.

Regarding health facilities in that region, the chief minister said that the Mithi hospital had witnessed radical changes to cater the healthcare needs of not only Tharparkar but also Mirpurkhas people.