Doctors end their strike after governor gives assurances
Only emergencies and trauma departments were working.
KARACHI:
The committee of protesting doctors met the governor on Friday night and ended their protests after he assured them that all 1,374 doctors would be given permanent jobs soon.
According to Syed Mohammad Naeemul Haq of the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH), the meeting was very successful.
The doctors demanded that the government implement the Sindh High Court’s decision to set up an appropriate promotion mechanism for doctors. According to the Sindh Doctors Welfare Association, around 15,000 doctors were affected throughout the province.
Earlier, out-patients services at all 21 hospitals and dispensaries under the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) remained closed on the second consecutive day as doctors continued to protest for permanent jobs and salaries.
The hospitals included Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH), the Karachi Institute of Heart Diseases (KIHD), Spencer Eye Hospital, Sobhraj Maternity Hospital Karachi (SMHK), Qatar Hospital and the Urban Health Centre.
Hundreds of staffers, including, doctors, paramedics and lower staff boycotted routine work except for the ones working at the emergency departments.
“Our demands stay the same,” said Dr Uzma, from ASH, with determination.
But the emergency ward, trauma centre, the accident department, gynaecology ward and the operation theatres were working.
KIHD was completely shut down also except for the emergency ward. According to the hospital spokesperson, there are approximately 675 employees, out of which, around 411 are still on contract. The spokesperson gave his own example, “I was appointed on August 10, 2006, but am still on contract.”
The protestors were even more agitated because, according to them, the paychecks given to them by the KMC had also bounced. “This means that they were never serious about our demands, not now, not even a week before when they pacified us with assurances,” said Basit, a paramedic from ASH.
“These are genuine demands,” said the in-charge of the casualty ward, Dr Syed Muhammad Naeem Uddin. “Nobody works without a salary or in the absence of job security.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 11th, 2012.
The committee of protesting doctors met the governor on Friday night and ended their protests after he assured them that all 1,374 doctors would be given permanent jobs soon.
According to Syed Mohammad Naeemul Haq of the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH), the meeting was very successful.
The doctors demanded that the government implement the Sindh High Court’s decision to set up an appropriate promotion mechanism for doctors. According to the Sindh Doctors Welfare Association, around 15,000 doctors were affected throughout the province.
Earlier, out-patients services at all 21 hospitals and dispensaries under the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) remained closed on the second consecutive day as doctors continued to protest for permanent jobs and salaries.
The hospitals included Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH), the Karachi Institute of Heart Diseases (KIHD), Spencer Eye Hospital, Sobhraj Maternity Hospital Karachi (SMHK), Qatar Hospital and the Urban Health Centre.
Hundreds of staffers, including, doctors, paramedics and lower staff boycotted routine work except for the ones working at the emergency departments.
“Our demands stay the same,” said Dr Uzma, from ASH, with determination.
But the emergency ward, trauma centre, the accident department, gynaecology ward and the operation theatres were working.
KIHD was completely shut down also except for the emergency ward. According to the hospital spokesperson, there are approximately 675 employees, out of which, around 411 are still on contract. The spokesperson gave his own example, “I was appointed on August 10, 2006, but am still on contract.”
The protestors were even more agitated because, according to them, the paychecks given to them by the KMC had also bounced. “This means that they were never serious about our demands, not now, not even a week before when they pacified us with assurances,” said Basit, a paramedic from ASH.
“These are genuine demands,” said the in-charge of the casualty ward, Dr Syed Muhammad Naeem Uddin. “Nobody works without a salary or in the absence of job security.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 11th, 2012.