Before the Sindh High Court decides the case, the steering committee of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) employees has decided to start a public awareness campaign on the consequences, if the state-run hospitals are devolved to the provincial government.
At a meeting held in the JPMC on Monday, the Steering Committee, comprising senior professors, doctors, nurses and paramedics, decided to launch the awareness campaign against the decision for the general public.
“Representatives from JPMC, National Institute of Child Health (NICH) and National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) attended the meeting and agreed to oppose the devolution of these hospitals to Sindh government,” said Dr Sameer Qureshi of JPMC Steering Committee.
He added that in the first phase, a press conference would be held in JPMC on Tuesday (today) against the proposed devolution while the next phase will also be announced soon.
On a question, Qureshi replied that 75 percent employees in the JPMC were from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and where will they go if it is devolved. “There are many mistakes in the 18th Constitutional Amendment and we want the federal government to keep the JPMC, as was done with Poly Clinic and PIMS of Islamabad,” he demanded.
He claimed that the administration and employees of NICVD and NICH stand with the decision of the steering committee. On contact NICVD Director Khan Shahzaman Khan said that he and his hospital employees will not be a part of any agitation.
Interestingly, even before the final decision comes from the court, the JPMC administration wants to provoke the employees into launching an agitation. A few weeks ago, the Joint Action Committee had started protesting against the decision of devolution and several times blocked the main road along which four major hospitals of the city, including JPMC, NICH, NICVD and Kidney Centre are located.
