The Sindh Health and Population Welfare Department has issued a formal directive ordering all officials from Basic Pay Scale 16 to Basic Pay Scale 20 to submit leave applications exclusively through the Human Resource Management Information System portal with effect from September 1, 2026, ending the use of paper-based leave submission procedures across the department’s extensive network of hospitals, district health offices, and administrative units. The directive was issued by Deputy Secretary Staff Ali Nawaz Channa and addressed to a broad list of recipients including the Sindh People’s Primary Healthcare Initiative chief executive officer, all district health officers, medical superintendents and executive directors of all tertiary care hospitals, medical superintendents of all secondary care hospitals, all section officers, and officers and officials from Basic Pay Scale 16 to Basic Pay Scale 20.
The notification makes clear that any leave applications submitted on paper or through conventional methods after August 31 will not be entertained, and that non-compliance may result in strict disciplinary action. The department has drawn a firm line on the consequences of circumventing the new system, stating that any absence from duty without prior submission and approval of leave through the Human Resource Management Information System portal will be treated as unauthorised absence. This language elevates the directive from an administrative preference to an enforceable compliance requirement, ensuring that officials across the health department cannot continue relying on informal or legacy processes after the September 1 deadline passes.
Section officers have been specifically directed to ensure strict compliance and to process all leave applications exclusively through the portal going forward, placing a layer of supervisory accountability on middle management to drive adoption across their respective teams and units. For officials or employees who face technical difficulties in navigating the portal, the department has designated Chief Technical Officer Dr Allah Bakhsh Mushtaq as the point of contact for assistance, providing a named resource to support the transition and reduce the risk of genuine technical barriers preventing timely compliance.
The shift to mandatory digital leave management through the Human Resource Management Information System forms part of a broader pattern of e-governance adoption across Sindh’s public sector, where departments are progressively being directed to replace manual, paper-dependent administrative workflows with integrated digital systems that improve traceability, reduce delays, and strengthen institutional accountability across the province’s government machinery.
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