RAWALPINDI:
Restlessness prevails among the young doctors serving in Rawalpindi hospitals and rural health centres in the suburbs. This is because they have not been given the promised allowances in their monthly salary, it has been learnt.
The Young Doctors Association (YDA) called off their strike in April after the Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Mian Shahbaz Sharif promised to raise their salaries and give them allowances in the 2011 budget.
It was decided in the meeting between the CM and the YDA that the government would start paying Rs15,000 as health professional allowance to every medical officer serving in BPS-17 and Rs3,370 as pay protection allowance every month.
A notification was issued in July about provision of these allowances to all medical officers in Punjab and Rs10,000 to the doctors serving in BPS-18 and above and the allowances were to be included in the August salary of medical practitioners.
Dr Imran Younas, the YDA Chief District Coordinator, told The Express Tribune that the allowances had not been paid to the doctors this month. He said when the doctors contacted the district account officer in Rawalpindi, they were informed that the office had received the notification about the allowances but, no money had been provided so far. The account office, he said, had stated the notification was silent about the receivers of Pay Protection Allowance and it could only be paid after the ambiguity was cleared.
“We observed strikes all over Punjab from March to April 7, to press the authorities to raise the salaries of more than 4,200 medical officers,” the YDA coordinator said.
He urged secretary health, secretary finance and the CM to ensure the provision of the promised raise to the doctors from this month. Dr Imran said the YDA Rawalpindi would hold a general meeting next week to discus the matter.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 5th, 2011.
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PR No.242 PRESS RELEASE Islamabad: March 24, 2011
President Asif Ali Zardari today approved pay protection to the officers of Directorate General of Social Welfare. The matter was lingering for the last many years as nearly two hundred officers were demanding pay protection of their pay to safeguard their increment earned prior to their regular employment.
Spokesperson said that these officers were engaged in adhoc basis in BPS 16 to BPS 19 during 1986-1990 for Directorate General of Special Education (DGSE). By November 2005, all the officers became regular through FPSC, but Section 17 of Civil Servants Act 1973 and relevant rules did not permit protection of pay of a contract employee on achieving regular appointment against same post.
The President exercising his power under Section 23 of Civil Servants Act, 1973 today on a summary sent by the Prime Minister approved pay protection of these officers overriding the bar under Section 17 of the Civil Servants Act 1973 for pay protection.