Solidarity: Gilgit-Baltistan doctors’ strike ends

Young doctors in Punjab end strike after govt assures to resolve their problems.

GILGIT:

As the Young Doctors Association in Punjab ended their strike, doctors in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) followed suit on Saturday, calling off their strike after the government assured them it will resolve their problems.

“We met with the G-B governor today and put forward our demands. We are thankful that the governor assured us that our demands will be met,” Dr Ijaz Ali, president of G-B’s Doctors’ Association, told The Express Tribune.

For the past couple of weeks, around 300 doctors working in G-B’s hospitals wore black armbands to express solidarity with doctors in Punjab.

The president said that their strike was in solidarity with the young doctors in Punjab who raised their voice for their rights and said the same package should also be extended to doctors in G-B.

“We want monetary benefits in areas such as G-B to be higher than what it is in big cities,” said Ali, justifying the demand by saying that life in G-B is comparatively tougher. He said that if doctors were not given added incentives in G-B, they would prefer not to come to work in these areas.

“We don’t have an emergency allowance, a house allowance and many others such facilities here, but we hope that our government will finally give this a look,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2011.