In a final attempt, doctors to hold indefinite sit-in from today

PMA asks govt to accept their demands, as directed by SHC, before its tenure ends.

HYDERABAD: Disheartened by the unending delay in acceptance of their demands, the government doctors have decided to coincide the last days of the Sindh government with an indefinite sit-in outside the Sindh Secretariat, Karachi, from March 11.

“The Pakistan Peoples Party has double standards. While it is supporting the demands of young doctors in Punjab, it is not accepting our just demands,” said Dr Pir Manzoor Ali, Pakistan Medical Association’s provincial general secretary, at a press conference on Sunday.

The PMA has been demanding the government to upgrade all the doctors whose promotions have been overdue and fixing a timescale formula under which the timely promotions cannot be delayed. “There are hundreds of doctors who were appointed in grade 17 over two decades ago but have still not been promoted.”

According to Dr Ali, there are over 5,500 such doctors in BPS 17, 18 and 19 pending promotions in Sindh. A majority of them is in the BPS-17.



As per the rules, a BPS-17 doctor has to be elevated to the next grade after seven years service. Likewise, the BPS-18 and BPS-19 promotions are due after five years. “I have been working in grade 17 for 23 years. If the rules had been followed, I would be a BPS-20 officer today,” said Dr Ali.

The association had taken this matter to the Sindh High Court which ordered the government in July, 2011, to promote doctors and also to implement the judgment within three months. However, no development took place as summary after summary kept moving from the one office of the government to another.

The association’s Dr Jaffar said that the SHC will take up their contempt of court petition on March 11. But the doctors do not believe that the Sindh government will implement the court’s order as only five days are left before the government’s tenure ends. The government will have to spend an additional Rs1.25 billion if the promotions come through, according to a summary sent for the chief minister’s approval by Secretary Health Dr Suresh Kumar.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2013.