Pims strike echoes in PM House, Parliament

OPDs made partially functional, 30 patients registered for check ups

ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Tariq Fazal Chaudhry met with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Wednesday to discuss the ongoing strike at Pakistan Institute of Medical Science (Pims).

They discussed the issue of separating Pims from Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU).

The bill to separate the hospital and university was already with the PM, forwarded by the law ministry. After PM’s approval, the bill will be presented before the Parliament for approval.

Representatives of the protesting staff of Pims said, finally, 10 days of consecutive protests and strike have moved the powers that be.

They said it was heartening to note that issue of separation of Pims from a medical university was discussed at Prime Minister House and the Parliament.

Employees of Pims have shut down healthcare services at the hospital for the last 10 days demanding separation of the hospital from SZABMU.

Medical, paramedical and administrative employees of the hospital have been boycotting their duties, meaning, healthcare services have been suspended in outpatient departments, laboratories and operation theatres.

Only the emergency and critical care units were functioning.

Pims was attached to SZABMU by the Pakistan Peoples Party government in March 2013. Employees of the hospital have been protesting from time to time, demanding the hospital’s former status as a government hospital.

Pims strike echoes in Parliament 

Senator Usman Kakar, speaking on a point of order in the Senate, censured both the government and opposition for turning a blind eye towards patients’ miseries.

He said the employees of Pims have been protesting for the last 10 days and patients have borne the brunt of the strike, but neither the government nor the opposition parties have taken up the issue in the Parliament.

Criticising the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), he said the party that raises a great hue and cry on every non issue, was silent on this matter of public interest.

Both the opposition and the government have been apathetic towards thousands of poor patients who come from far off areas to the federal capital for treatment, the senator said.

He said the government was not fulfilling its pledge to bring in a bill and pass it to separate medical university from the hospital. The reason, he said, was the expensive land on which the hospital was standing. He alleged the controversy has been created to grab hospital land.

Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani asked Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sheikh Aftab Ahmad to look into the matter for its early redressal.

MNA Ramesh Kumar while speaking outside the parliament house also remarked that the condition of hospitals in the federal capital is miserable and unfortunate. He said even the condition of healthcare facilities in Punjab are comparatively batter than Islamabad. The government has failed to provide better healthcare facilities to the masses, he said.

Strike continues

At Pims, the employees continued their strike and protested outside the hospital and blocked the Ibn-e-Sina road before the hospital.

MNAs Naseema Hafeez Panezai and Abdul Qahar Khan also showed the solidarity with the protesters by visiting and speaking with them.

OPDs were partially made functional as some 30 patients were registered for check ups by the junior doctors but overall OPDs and OTs and labs remained shut as the employees kept protesting outside the hospital.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 12^th, 2017.