Young Doctors Association (YDA) Tuesday staged protest demonstration in front of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital to press the government for their service structure. Dozens of doctors carrying banners chanted slogans in support of their demand of service structure and other allowances. YDA spokesman Dr Nasir Abbas said that five meetings between the Health Department and YDA, PMA office-bearers had been held so fare and had been inconclusive.
He urged the government to fulfil the demand of doctors for a better service structure, allowances and increase in stipends for both house officers and postgraduate doctors. Meanwhile, the YDA strike has entered in the 9th day at outdoor patients departments (OPDs) in all public sector hospitals of the province. The Health Department has termed the strike unjustified.
Special Assistant to Chief Minister for Health Kh Salman Rafiq said that a government empolyee of BPS-17 was getting salary of Rs 30,000 per month while a doctor in the same grade was getting Rs 60,000. The Health Department has no funds to fulfill demands of doctors, he added.
Owing to the non-availability of doctors and medical staff in the government hospitals, many patients were forced to go to private hospitals and clinics for medical treatment. The patients and their attendants, while criticising the doctors’ attitude, said the doctors were only denying treatment to the patients visiting the government hospitals and not at the private clinics.
Separately, YDA leaders said around 1,000 posts of doctors were lying vacant in the province because doctors are not willing to work in the present package.
Talking to reporters, YDA leaders including Dr Rana Sohail, Dr Salman Kazmi, Dr Muhammad Azhar and others lashed out at the Punjab government for misleading people about doctors’ salaries and said that a fresh House Officer getting Rs 24,000 per month.
They said that the Punjab government should allocate Rs 6 billion for service structure of doctors instead of establishing new medical colleges costing Rs 17 billion.
They also demanded of the Punjab government to raise budgetary allocations for medicines so that patients could get rid of substandard medicines being provided in public sector hospitals.
Doctors’ hullabaloo spills out onto the roads!
