General cadre doctors to start 1,000-signature campaign today

"14,000 plus general cadre doctors were the backbone of the province’s health delivery system," says Dr Masood Sheikh

LAHORE:

A 1,000-signature campaign will be started on Thursday by the General Cadre Doctor Association (GCDA) Punjab to demand that the service structure for doctors be finalised at the earliest.

The decision was taken in the GCDA provincial council meeting on Wednesday.

Addressing the council meeting, GCDA President Dr Masood Akhtar Sheikh said the service structure was important to bring doctors in line with national and international standards.

He said the campaign will start in Lahore and then taken to all districts of the Punjab.

Sheikh said the 14,000 plus general cadre doctors (GCDs) were the backbone of the province’s health delivery system. He said the policies of the last government had proved detrimental for the cadre.

He asked the government not to forget to address the issue of the promotion of the general cadre doctors.

He said the promotions of GCDs had been delayed for the last 15 years, with many working in Grade 17 for over 16-20 years. “Similarly the deadlock at Grade 19 level needs to be addressed,” he said.

The provincial council said it agreed with the Service Structure Committee recommendation that length of service be taken as criteria for promotion.

It said those with 5 years, 12 years and 16 years of work experience be promoted to Grade 18, 19 and 20 respectively.

GCDA General Secretary Dr Rana Rafiq, Dr Asad Abbas Shah, Dr Asim Farooqui, Dr Arif Iftikhar, Dr Ejaz Warriach and Dr Saifur Rehman spoke on the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2012.