The Punjab Paramedical Alliance (PPA) has decided to go on strike against a delay in issuance of a notification of a revised service structure for 35,000 paramedical staff all over Punjab. PPA will stay away from the “Anti-Polio Campaign” starting from May 9 to May 12. PPP members took part in the previous anti polio campaign wearing black armbands, but the Punjab government and the Health Department turned a deaf ear to their demands.
Decisions made by PPA office bearers will be announced on Monday (today) after a meeting of their executive council to be attended by about 80 members (2 from each district). The meeting will be held at the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) office on Ferozepur Road. Sources in PPA told Pakistan Today that paramedics took the plunge after inconclusive meetings with Senior Adviser to Chief Minister Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa, former health secretary Fawad Hassan Fawad and representatives of the Finance Department.
Sources told Pakistan Today that PPA had presented a comprehensive list of 135,000 members and demanded improvement in their service structure. The sources said after discussions between health and finance departments and PPA office bearers, it was decided that only 35,000 technical paramedics would be rewarded in the revised service structure. Khosa and the departments concerned had assured PPA that a notification of their revised service structure would be issued soon.
PPA office bearers claim that they represent the technical and non-technical staff working in public sector hospitals. More than 7,000 laboratory technicians, 9,000 dispensers and more than 15,000 staff nurses are working under the PPA umbrella. PPA President Malik Munir told Pakistan Today that they had decided not to be part of the Anti-polio campaign after facing a lot of hurdles in the way of the new service structure.He said the Punjab government paid attention only to those, who protested in front of the Punjab Assembly building or suspended their services and they would have to follow suit.
