Islamabad: The federal health ministry has decided to repatriate contractual officials, deputationists and consultants from its ranks, with officials confirming that the services of Dr. Mehreen Mujtaba, an Assistant Professor at the Health Services Academy (HSA), have been formally handed back to her parent institution.
According to a notification issued on August 26, the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHSR&C) repatriated Dr. Mujtaba to HSA with immediate effect. She had been serving at the ministry as Director Nutrition as well as Director Climate Change, despite being a contractual academic of HSA and not a federal civil servant.
Officials said the move is part of a wider policy decision to “get rid of deputationists and consultants” serving in the ministry, many of whom were placed in senior technical and administrative positions despite being outsiders to the federal service.
“This process is being carried out in phases. Consultants whose contracts have expired are being relieved, deputationists are being sent back to their parent departments, and even some long-term consultants who have occupied important positions for years will be asked to leave,” one senior official disclosed.
The most important repatriation was of Dr. Zaeem Zia, who was serving as District Health Office (DHO) Islamabad for five years after arriving at federal capital on deputation. A few weeks earlier, the ministry relieved the Coordinator of the Common Management Unit (CMU), Dr. Qasim, and repatriated him to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Another faculty member of HSA who had been serving in the ministry was also sent back, while the most recent case involved Dr. Mujtaba. Officials confirmed that more names including dentists and radiologists are in line for repatriation as part of the clean-up drive.
“There are clinicians working at the ministry who are badly needed in hospitals and health facilities, especially given the shortage of specialists across the country. Instead of performing bureaucratic roles, they should be saving lives in ICUs, wards and operating theatres,” an official said, adding that career bureaucrats and permanent officers of the ministry had long expressed resentment over outsiders being handed prized portfolios.
Dr. Mujtaba’s case had drawn particular attention. Initially hired at HSA on the directives of former federal health secretary Iftikhar Shallwani, she was later placed in the ministry on deputation and given the additional charge of two critical wings — nutrition and climate change. The move sidelined senior officers of the ministry and created what officials described as “a breakdown in chain of command.”
While some acknowledged that she helped raise the ministry’s visibility on global platforms dealing with malnutrition and climate change, others argued her deputation was legally untenable.
The ministry’s repatriation drive is not confined to HSA faculty. A senior doctor who was serving as the Director General Health was also relieved of his charge and his services handed back to the Balochistan government earlier this year. Officials said several other consultants who had developed a “chronic hold” over important technical posts would also be relieved soon.
To fill the gaps, officers from allied departments would be recalled and posted against the vacated seats.
Ministry insiders view the policy shift as an attempt to restore the primacy of career bureaucrats and technical officers within the NHSR&C, while reducing reliance on short-term deputationists and donor-linked consultants.
“The ministry had become overrun with consultants who were neither accountable to the service rules nor answerable to Parliament. This repatriation policy is meant to fix that imbalance,” a senior health official remarked.
With Dr. Mujtaba now directed to resume her teaching and research duties at HSA, and more contractual appointments under review, the ministry’s internal reshuffle signals a decisive departure from past practices. Officials hinted that further notifications repatriating deputationists and consultants will follow in the coming weeks.
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