Unpalatable much: Paramedics stage sit-in near health DG’s office

Demonstrators vow to continue protest

LAHORE: Paramedics affiliated with the Punjab Paramedic Alliance (PPA) marched to the office of the health services DG on Thursday and staged a sit-in there.

The rally was taken out in connection with the PPA’s demand for a service structure and regularisation of paramedics working on contractual and daily wage basis. The protesters gathered at Jinnah Hospital and marched to Services Hospital, blocking vehicular traffic along the way.

They staged a sit-in outside the DG’s office and vowed to continue their protest till their demands had been accepted. The demonstrators claimed that the government had pledged time and again to provide paramedics with an improved service structure. They said the government had failed to deliver on this account.

The protestors raised slogans against the government and blocked the road in front of the DG’s office. DG Amjad Shahzad urged the protesters to end the sit-in saying that the department had been striving to resolve the matter.  Shahzad attributed the delay in the implementation of a service structure to technical and legal hindrances. He said the department had been striving to ensure its quick implementation but was obligated to follow rules and regulations. Shahzad said this would take time.

The DG’s assurances failed to placate the demonstrators who vowed to continue their sit-in till their demands had been accepted. They said hollow assurances would not make them disperse.

The protest was underway when this report was filed.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th, 2015.