Dr Saeed Elahi promises ‘phased raises’

The salaries of doctors will be raised in several phases, says Dr Elahi.

LAHORE: The salaries of doctors will be raised in several phases and a committee headed by the chief secretary is already working on it, said parliamentary health secretary Dr Saeed Elahi on Monday.

He said the government was committed to facilitating the doctors but could not raise all doctors’ salaries to the levels they were demanding in one go. This, he said, required more than Rs18 billion.

He was speaking to the media after a meeting with a delegation of members of Pakistan Medical Association, Medical Teachers’ Association, General Practitioners’ Association and Young Doctors’ Association. The delegation, including Dr Akhtar Rashid, Dr Tehsin Riaz, Dr Shahbaz Khan, Dr Riaz Hussain and Dr Faisal Baig, announced their decision not to join the PMA’s strike – a date for which is likely to be announced during the PMA provincial convention scheduled on March 28. They said they had full confidence in the government.

Elahi assured the delegation that the doctors who decide against participating in the strike and continued performing their duties would be provided with appropriate security.

He said the government was spending between Rs3 million and Rs4 million on the education of every doctor.

He said they should give preference to serving people rather than focusing only on their individual financial interests.

He said the strike call was given by a group of doctors was unconstitutional and illegal and was against the principles of Islam. The strike, he said, would affect a large number of patients.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2011.