The government of Balochistan on Monday dismissed 66 government doctors from service for being on strike for over two months.
The action was taken after Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Balochistan Chief Minister Aslam Raisani took serious notice of the strike by young doctors of Balochistan that led to the deaths of several patients at public hospitals. Raisani also gave a 24-hour deadline to the doctors on strike to resume duty or face the consequences. Young doctors across the province have been demanding an increase in their salary and provision of benefits equivalent to doctors working at the Centre and have refused to work at public hospitals, except in emergency and casualty wards, since the last two months.
Confirming the government’s move, provincial Health Secretary Asmatullah Khan said the government tried its best to convince the protesting doctors to register peaceful protests and call off their strike, but the doctors resorted to illegal actions like putting locks on wards despite realising the critical conditions at public hospitals. The health secretary said 66 doctors, including five in Grade-18, were dismissed from service for their continued absence from service. He said the sacked doctors were only from provincial Sandeman Hospital, while the list of those in other government hospitals was being prepared and more doctors would be dismissed from service if the strike continued. Asked about the number of doctors who had been observing strike for the past two months, he said they might be over a thousand and no body would be spared if found guilty of being absent from duty.
He said around one hundred doctors recommended by the Balochistan Public Service Commission would be appointed within three days to provide health facilities to the people. Meanwhile, Young Doctors Association President Dr Abdul Samad Panezai warned that all doctors would submit their resignations voluntarily if the government took any action against the young doctors.
