Paramedics in protest for third consecutive day

Paramedical staff from public hospitals across Sindh have put forward a five-point agenda

KARACHI: Paramedics from Sindh's public sector hospital took to the streets for the third consecutive day and gathered outside the Karachi Press Club, urging relevant authorities to fulfill their demands, before they began marching towards the Chief Minister (CM) House on Friday.

"We want the protest to be registered before the chief minister," said one of the paramedics leading the protest, Nazir Abbas. Though law enforcement agencies have placed blockades on the route, he said, the protesters would not disperse until their issues were addressed.

Moving towards the red-zone area, the protestors were barred from going beyond the Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi by the police.

Meanwhile, some health officials reportedly contacted the protesting paramedics and assured them that their issue would be resolved.

The paramedical staff from public hospitals across Sindh has put forward a five-point agenda, demanding the immediate restoration of the service structure, issuance of time scale, immediate cancellation of recovery letter, an immediate grant of 30 per cent health professional allowance to the paramedical staff and granting of permanent status to the vaccinators.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2020.