PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has ordered formal inquiries against 15 senior officers of the health department`s management cadre, including three former directors (health services), district health officers and agency surgeons in the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas, over their alleged mis-conduct and corruption.

The orders come from the provincial chief secretary`s office foilowing preliminary inquiries into the alleged administrative and financial irregularities by these officers, who hold key positions in the health department, according to insiders.

They told Dawn on condition of anonymity that formal inquiries had been ordered to provide the officers, who faced the charges of wrongdoing, with appropriate opportunities to clear their positions on the matter.

According to sources, the provincial chief secretary has ordered in writing the start of formal inquiries against those officers in line withRule 5 of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government Servants (Efficiency & Disciplinary) Rules, 2011, for the `acts of omission and commission defined as misconduct in terms of Rule 3.

Officials said that the provincial government, at the request of the health department, had conducted inquiries against the alleged corruption and mismanagement by the officers of BPS-18 to BPS-20 from time to time.

They added that the chief secretary ordered formal inquiries against all those officers after the completion of initial inquiries.

According to a notification, the competent authority has constituted a two-member committee toprobe the alleged misconduct of the doctors, who were found to be guilty of the offence in initial inquiries.

The committee has a BPS-21 officer, Provincial Services Academy director-general Mohammad Zubair Asghar Qureshi, as its head and a BPS-20 officer, additional director-general (monitoring and evaluation) at the Directorate-General Health Services Dr Abid Hussain, as its member.

The of ficers to be probed included two former directors (health services) in the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Area, former agency surgeon of the Lower and Central Kurram, a district healthofficer and two agency surgeon of North Waziristan, district health officer of South Waziristan, deputy DHO of Bannu, agency DDHO of FR Tank, DHO of Orakzai, agency Surgeon of FR Dera Ismail Khan, director (health services) in the erstwhile Fata and chief of the Health Sector Reforms Unit in the erstwhile Fata, and former DHOs of Mohmand and Lower and Central Kurram areas.

According to notification, the chief secretary`s office also informed the offices of the chief minister and provincial accountant general about the inquiries.

The inquiry committee has got the copies of the `charge sheet and statement of allegations` along withthe required documents for necessary action.

The chief secretary`s office asked the provincial director-general (health services) to serve the charge sheets and statements of allegations on the accused, get proper acl
It also asl(ed the DGHS to nominate a departmental representative to assist the inquiry officer during the inquiry, according to the notification.

Officials said that the officers facing formal inquiries would receive charge sheets before they appeared before the committee separately to plead their respective cases.