Proposal tabled: Young doctors say no talks without chief minister

Committee’s proposal described as falling short of demands.

LAHORE:

The Young Doctors’ Association-Punjab has refused to attend a meeting convened on Saturday by the committee set up by the chief minister to work on a proposal for a revised service structure and salary raises for doctors.

The YDA-Punjab says that it will not attend any meeting in which Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif is not present.

The committee has put forward a Rs3 billion a year plan for a revised service structure and raised salaries for doctors in Punjab, The Express Tribune has learnt. According to government sources, after a six-hour meeting, the committee decided to wait for the YDA-Punjab’s reaction to the proposal that had already been accepted by the CM before making it public. The move, it would appear, is part of a keenness on part of the government to put an end to the issue.

Health Department officials said that a meeting was held between a YDA-Punjab delegation and Health Secretary Jahanzaid Haque Khan on Friday. The YDA-Punjab, however, denied that any delegation had met the secretary.  Dr Aftab Ashraf, the YDA Punjab Services Hospital media coordinator, told The Tribune that he and his colleagues would not participate in the meeting unless the CM was present. Dr Ashraf said that the proposal had been drafted without taking the YDA-Punjab on board. He said that no meeting with the committee to discuss the issue would be acceptable unless the CM committed to attend it. YDA Punjab spokesperson Nasir Bukhari said that the committee’s proposal fell short of their demands. He said that the YDA-Punjab would attend a meeting with government officials only if the CM was also present.

NO RIFT:YDA Punjab chairman Muhammed Haroon denied that there was a rift in the organisation. He said a general council meeting would be held soon so that any confusion could be cleared up.

A YDA-Punjab founding member, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Tribune that the YDA Punjab had become politicised following the conference held in Lahore. He said that the conference had cost a lot of money which other regions in the province lacked.  He also alleged that the YDA Punjab’s decision to strike had been made without the consent of the members from the rest of the Punjab. He said the various factions unhappy with the recent developments were quiet as they did not want to undermine the progress that had been made so far.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2011.