The Punjab government has approved the recruitment of medical professionals on a temporary basis to address staff shortages in the healthcare sector.
In this regard, the Punjab Locum Hiring Act 2025 has been passed by the Punjab Assembly, paving the way for a structured mechanism to hire medical experts on short-term contracts.
Under the new law, a Locum Policy Committee will be established to oversee the recruitment process.
The provincial minister for specialized healthcare will serve as the chairperson of the committee, while the secretary of the department will act as the vice-chairperson.
The committee will include three field experts and human resource specialists as members.
Its responsibilities will include assessing staffing gaps across the province’s healthcare institutions and defining terms of reference (TORs) for temporary hiring.
In addition, the committee will determine the duration of employment, salary structure, and other benefits, ensuring that all appointments are made through a transparent process.
As per the act, all recruitment advertisements must be published in at least two newspapers, and the complete hiring procedure will be clearly outlined in the public notices to maintain transparency and merit-based selection.
Those recruited on temporary basis will not be able to request to be permanent and the benefits given to permanent employees will not be given to temporary employees.
The committee will have the authority to extend or terminate the period of temporary recruitment.
The aim of the bill is to fill the shortage of staff in the health sector.