Protest for security: Hospital bloodied as police beat paramedics

The staff want better health and emergency allowances and better pay.

KARACHI:

Paramedical staff have refused to work after their protest was met with police brutality on Thursday, leading to fears that the polio vaccinations from April 23 could be affected.

The Pakistan Paramedical Staff Association (PPMSA) has announced a complete boycott of work all over Sindh - except for emergency duties.

The Sindh Services Hospital and its patients inside were hurt when the police went after nonviolent protesting paramedical staff on MA Jinnah Road. The police baton-charged and tear gas shelled the protesters and chased them inside the hospital, where they were assembling. Traffic on MA Jinnah Road was blocked for some time.

The police broke glass and windowpanes, creating panic among patients, who are all from families of government servants.

“It was a peaceful protest. We were assembling to march to Chief Minister House but even before we could start, we were attacked by the police,” said Niaz Hussain Bhutto of the PPMSA. “We know it is a red zone, but as the health secretary was not helping, we had no choice.”

He said protesters were detained at Preedy, Risala, Arambagh, Eidgah and Kharadar police stations and several others had to be given medical treatment.

The PPMSA had approached the Sindh health department with 18 demands on December 22, 2011, all of which were initially accepted by the health secretary as genuine and legitimate.

The most important ones included a service structure, time-scale promotions, a health allowance equalling 50% of the basic salary (as in the Punjab) permanent jobs for 700 Gavi vaccinators in Sindh, a risk allowance, emergency allowance and health professional allowance for paramedical staff just as is given to doctors. “When the government pays a doctor for exposing [herself] to a dangerous situation, why should we be left out? After all, we deal more with patients than doctors,” said Aijaz Ahmed Kakepoto of the PPMSA.

Paramedical staff also want an easier application process for the one-child job quota for a staffer that has passed away. Right now their children have to come all the way from other districts of Sindh to Karachi. They want DDOs to be able to grant them jobs instead of the health secretary. Other demands included minor requests such as medical facilities, hepatitis B & C vaccinations for their families.

The health secretary had formed a committee to deliberate on these demands but cancelled it three days later. The paramedical staff then started protesting on March 28.

The health secretary then formed another committee, on Wednesday with four representative associations (People’s Paramedical Association, Medical Aid Committee, Sindh Paramedical Association and Mumtaz Jatoi an ex-member of PPMSA). But the PPMSA rejected it, saying they did not recognise the authority of these people to negotiate for them.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13^th, 2012.