Doctors and paramedic trainers associated with the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Youth Development Programme (SSBYDP) reiterated their demand for permanent jobs during a press conference on Thursday.
The protesters were appointed for a 12-month phase in 2008 to train lab technicians for 19 different specialties, including cardiology, echocardiography, angiography, ultrasound and X-ray. The SSBYDP kept hiring people for 12-month terms till this February.
The doctors were paid Rs20,000 per month, while the lab trainers were paid Rs15,000 per month. They trained nearly 2,800 technicians in the first phase of the programme, 2,000 in the second phase and 3,200 in the third. The trainees received monthly stipends of Rs3,500, which was later reduced to Rs2,500.
“We want permanent jobs for those doctors and paramedic trainers who worked through all the three phases,” said Dr Murtaza Memon.
“The President’s secretariat had moved a summary in this regard in May 2011,” said Dr Sardar Ahmed. He added that federal minister Khursheed Ahmed Shah had requested the Sindh government to give them permanent jobs.
Dr Haresh Kumar said that their colleagues in Punjab were given permanent jobs by that province’s health department.
While talking about the benefits of the programme, Dr Murtaza said that technicians trained under the BBSYDP were now working at both public and private hospitals in the province.
Meanwhile, BBSYDP health programme provincial director Dr Sabir Memon said that giving permanent jobs to the doctors and paramedic trainers was out of the question, as they were appointed on one-year extendable contracts. However, he appeared hopeful that the fourth phase of the programme would soon begin in Sindh and that the programme would be able to retain its old staff.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 13th, 2012.
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