Talks breakdown: Doctors reject govt’s plea for July raises
Negotiations between the Young Doctors’ Association (YDA) Punjab and a special committee headed by Senior Advisor to Punjab Chief Minister, Sirdar Zulifqar Khan Khosa have failed.
The YDA has announced a strike in the OPD as well as indoor wards of public hospitals on Thursday.
YDA Punjab leader Hamid Butt told The Express Tribune that negotiations between YDA Punjab and Khosa’s team had failed and the doctors were going to observe a strike. “We will hold protest demonstrations in front of the hospitals,” he said.
Earlier, Khosa briefed the doctors about the Punjab government’s financial difficulties and said that the government would revise the salary packages of all doctors on July 1, 2011. “The YDA Punjab has not accepted the proposal and demanded an immediate raise,” he said. YDA officials said that they were not willing to wait any further for the raises and after Khosa refused to grant the raise immediately they called for a complete strike. A YDA Punjab general council meeting later endorsed the strike.
Paramedics demand service structure
The Punjab Paramedics Alliance (PPA) warned on Wednesday of strikes in public hospitals and incessant protests from the next month, if the government did not issue their service structure notification. Malik Muneer Ahmed, the PPA president, leading a demonstration on The Mall said on Wednesday. MPAs Chaudhry Zaheeruddin and Ashraf Sohna promised the PPA members they would raise the issue in Punjab Assembly.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 17th, 2011.
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