KARACHI: Karachi police used batons and water cannons outside the Karachi Press Club on Wednesday to disperse paramedical staffers, who were protesting for approval of health professional allowance summary.
When the protesters decided to move towards the Chief Minister’s House, the police attacked the protesters, which resulted in injuring of many paramedics. The injured were moved to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Trauma Centre.
At least fifty protesters had also been arrested by the police.
The protesters were of the opinion that they were demanding health professional allowance for paramedics of Sindh on the patron of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Baluchistan, but the Sindh government was reluctant to give the same.
Paramedical Staff Joint Action Committee’s central leader Akhlaq Ahmed Khan said dozens of paramedics were injured as a result of the baton charge and were shifted to nearby hospitals. He announced that paramedics would boycott the outdoor patient departments (OPDs) throughout Sindh province till the acceptance of their demands.
Another leader of the committee, Ismail Jiskani, said Sindh government had announced health professional allowance for staff of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center and National Institute of Child Health, but paramedical staff and rest of Sindh government hospitals employees had been deprived of these allowances.
He demanded of the Sindh government to release the arrested paramedical staff and issue notification of health professional allowance on an urgent basis.