Service structure: LHC tells doctors not to stage sit-in

Govt and doctors near final agreement, YDA demands quashing of murder FIR.

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court on Tuesday ordered doctors to refrain from staging a sit-in at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat to press the government for changes to their service structure.

It was not clear on Tuesday night whether the Young Doctors Association (YDA) Punjab would go ahead with the protest scheduled for Wednesday morning at 90, The Mall. YDA Punjab President Dr Hamid Butt, speaking to The Express Tribune after meeting Governor Sardar Latif Khosa, said that he had not seen the court notice and would consult his lawyers.

Earlier in the day, the doctors engaged in marathon negotiations with the government said that all issues regarding the service structure had been resolved, but the YDA Punjab had refused to call off the sit-in until a murder case, registered against eight Mayo Hospital doctors over a child’s death during the YDA strike this summer, was quashed.

Meanwhile, hundreds of YDA members from around the province streamed into the city on Tuesday for the sit-in.

Court proceedings

On Tuesday morning, Advocate General Ashtar Ausaf Ali told the LHC that the negotiations on a service structure were close to completion and the YDA should focus on those rather than on protesting. He said most of the YDA’s demands had been met. He accused the YDA of being “a tool in the hands of a political party” and claimed it had called the sit-in at the behest of politicians opposed to the Punjab government.

After hearing the petitioner’s initial arguments, the court summoned the YDA leadership for 3:00pm. Upon resumption of the hearing, the court was told that the YDA representatives had “refused” to appear before the court even though they had been conveyed the message at Governor’s House.

The advocate general again asked the court to issue a stay order. At this, Justice Ijazul Ahsan remarked that poor patients would not be left unattended. The judge issued an interim stay order against the sit-in and summoned the leadership of the YDA for Wednesday morning.

Dr Hamid Butt told The Express Tribune that he had not seen the court order and would consult his legal advisers.

He said that the doctors had a constitutional right to hold a peaceful protest.

He said that the governor had assured the YDA of his support and condemned the registration of the murder case against doctors.

Negotiations

Meanwhile, doctors’ representatives met again with government officials after 15 hours of discussion on Monday. The government had hoped to conclude the negotiations before the YDA sit-in, but one sticking point remained in the form of the murder case against Mayo Hospital doctors.

“Things are heading in a positive direction and if the government quashes the 302 [the Pakistan Penal Code section which relates to murder] case before the sit-in, we will also show courtesy,” YDA Jinnah Hospital President Dr Javaid Aheer said.

Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) General Secretary Dr Izhar Chaudhry, who also attended the meeting, said that the new service structure for doctors had been agreed upon by the government. He said that the advocate general’s office would get in touch with doctors’ representatives concerning the murder case on Wednesday morning, after which a final meeting would take place.

A doctor requesting not to be named said the deadlock over the allowance for Fellowship of the College of Physicians and Surgeons (FCPS) doctors had ended. He said that it had been left to the Higher Education Commission to decide if the FCPS qualification was equivalent to a PhD, in which case the allowance would be set at Rs10,000 per month. If not, the allowance would be set at Rs5,000 per month, he said.

General Cadre Association President Dr Masood Shaikh said the government and doctors had reached agreement on all core points. He said there should be no delay in the announcement and implementation of the deal.

Dr Amir Bandesha, who represented the YDA Punjab at the meeting, said there was verbal agreement on all major points. “Nothing has been signed yet. We will go ahead with our peaceful sit-in. If the 302 case is quashed then a final meeting may take place with Senator Ishaq Dar to sign the service structure document,” he said.

Meanwhile, groups of doctors from all over the Punjab arrived in Lahore for the sit-in. “Six hundred doctors have arrived from south Punjab and 700 from north Punjab including Rawalpindi. Some 2,000 doctors will participate in the sit-in,” said YDA Information Secretary Dr Hussain Chaudhry.

A YDA delegation from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa led by Dr Alamgir Khan Yousafzai has also reached Lahore, said Dr Mudassir Razzaq Khan of the YDA.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7^th, 2012.