The medical and non-medical staff of the Poly Clinic, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and the National Institute of Rehabilitative Medicine (NIRM) will observe a complete strike today. The personnel will strike at their respective institutes and stage a protest demonstration at the Parade Avenue (D-Chowk) to ask the administration for a revision of the service structures and early implementation of the Basic Pay Scale (BPS) system. The Polyclinic and PIMS hospitals’ medical and non-medical staff, on Monday, continued their daily two-hour token strike to press the authorities to accept their demands. The PIMS staff raised slogans and carried placards in front of the hospital’s administration block to demand a revision of the service structures.
A similar protest was also held at the Polyclinic Hospital.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Joint Action Committee (JAC) member Raja Ilyas said on the assurance of the government officials, including Khursheed Shah, Nayyar Bukhari, Nargis Sethi, they decided to hold a token strike instead of a whole day strike in the hospitals, but despite that the bill for Health Personnel Pay Scale (HPS) has not been introduced in the National Assembly. Ilyas stated the non-medical staff also rejected the new Health Personnel Scale (HPS) and preferred to remain in the old service structure of the basic pay scale (BPS).
“The non-medical staff demanded the service structure for promotion to higher grade for all non-medical gazetted and non-gazetted staff as approved for paramedics and nurses; existing pay scales with all other rights under Civil Servants Act 1972, instead of proposed HPS; payment of salary out of voted budget (recurring budget allocation) through AGPR as already adopted; all existing facilities, perks and privileges as admissible from time to time; and grant of monthly Hospital (health) Risk Allowance equivalent to running basic pay,” Ilyas elaborated.
“A delegation of the JAC met with the federal ministers and senators from the government benches who assured that the new service structure will be revised and the Basic Pay Scale (BPS) system implemented in the federal government hospitals,” Ilyas said.
He added that over 1800 Polyclinic Hospital employees were in favour of the BPS system while118 favored the HPS system. He said the personnel would not quit fighting for their legal rights. Ilyas alleged that the officials wanted to lease out the hospitals but the staff would not let them do so. Ilyas said further the PIMS and Polyclinic hospitals’ executive directors favored the PBS system.
All-Non-Medical Health Employees Association president Manzar Abbas Naqvi expressed serious reservations over the unjustified distribution of power among the medical and non-medical staff. “The influential status of medical staff compelled us to go on strike,” he said.
According to the law, the Cabinet Division could not pass any ordinance without consulting relevant organisations such as the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) or Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), but all these bodies had been bypassed “to serve some vested interests,” he maintained.
