The government showed no interest in talks as the 72-hour ultimatum given by the Joint Action Committee (JAC) representing federal hospitals staff members lapsed on Friday.
The Young Doctors Association (YDA) Pims also sprung into action as they gave the hospital administration till Saturday (today) morning to have the outpatient departments (OPDs) unlocked. Otherwise, they said, they will “lock the entire administration department”.
None of the doctors at Pims are supporting the strike, according to YDA Pims, but non-medical staffers in BPS are.
Medical and non-medical staffers of Pims, Polyclinic Hospital and National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine who opted to remain under BPS shutdown OPDs at the hospitals two weeks ago. They have continued to protest in front of the Parliament House almost daily.
On January 17, they issued an ultimatum to the government demanding salaries under BPS with health-risk allowance, time-frame promotions for all health professionals, maintenance of civil servant status, and retention of the status of federal government hospitals. They threatened to shutdown indoor departments of hospitals as well if their demands were ignored.
MNA Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhary assured protesters on Friday that he would “fight for their cause”. He requested them to leave the indoor departments open. The JAC postponed the planned shutdown but will continue the strike in the OPDs until their demands are met.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 21st, 2012.
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