The rural wing of the Young Doctors Association (YDA) has decided to separate itself from the association and form a body of its own to protect the rights of doctors serving in rural areas.
An application for the registration of the Rural Doctors Association, as it will be called, has already been submitted to the social welfare department.
Dr Asadullah, currently the head of YDA Rawalpindi’s rural wing, said the main reason behind the separation is due to the fact that YDA has not taken up any of the issues faced by the rural doctors’ with the government. The Punjab government had recently withdrawn the ad-hoc relief allowance for doctors in rural areas.
The doctor said the rural wing had demanded more facilities for doctors in far-off areas, but neither the YDA Punjab nor the government responded to their demands.
A few months back, the Punjab government had reshuffled around 600 doctors, posting doctors in city hospitals to rural areas. However, the decision was withdrawn following an agitation by the YDA. As a result, doctors in rural areas could not get a chance to serve in cities and are being forced to work in far-off areas without any refresher courses or other incentives, he explained.
Even the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council does not recognise their service for promotions and higher studies since they claim basic health units and rural health centres are not teaching institutions, he said.
YDA Punjab Chairman Dr Haroon Ahmed said he had no information about the formation of the separate body.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 20th, 2012.
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