Governance priorities: What use are youth festival records, asks Imran Khan

Sanaullah lashes out at Khan for ‘interfering in Punjab government’s matters’.

LAHORE:

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan joined the Young Nurses Association (YNA) at a protest rally on Tuesday to slam the Punjab government for their indifference.

Following an eight-hour long sit-in in front of the Lahore Press Club on Monday, the protesting nurses had announced plans to stage a sit-in in front the Chief Minister’s House on Tuesday.

However, after being turned away by a heavy police contingent at the GOR entrance, the protesting nurses chose Egerton Road for their ‘sit-in’.

Addressing the protesters, Khan said it was unfortunate that while the Punjab government was spending billions of taxpayers’ money on useless record breaking at the Punjab Youth Festival, many of the people serving the humanity were on the streets protesting.

“What’s the use of making a record of eating 100 naans? The government should spend this money on education and health,” he said. He said the government should meet the legitimate demands of the nurses, because hospitals could only work smoothly, if nurses were all looked after.

Earlier in the morning, the protesting nurses rallied from Cooper Road and tried to march to the Punjab Assembly. A heavy police contingent, however, did not let them enter the area. The nurses then decided to stage a sit-in on Egerton Road, resulting in long queues on the adjoining roads.

Nurses at several government hospitals also observed a partial strike to show solidarity with them.

Dr Rana Sohail Ahmad, a surgeon at Mayo Hospital, told The Express Tribune that he had had only one nurse working for four operation theatres. He said in most cases, doctors had to perform their (nurses’) duties during surgeries. He said several surgeries had been postponed. He urged the government to resolve the issue at the earliest, saying doctors would not be able to work without nurses for long.

Health Director General Zahid Pervaiz, who tried to negotiate with the protesting nurses, said that the Health Department had forwarded a summary to the Finance Department to extend the arrangements with the ad hoc nurses. He said that nurses having contract jobs should report back on duty. “We are trying our best to solve the problems at the earliest,” he said.

Later, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif formed a committee headed by Chief Secretary Naveed Akram to resolve the issue. Other members of the committee are Advisor to Chief Minister on Health Khwaja Salman Rafique, Parliamentary Secretary on Health Khwaja Imran Nazir, Health Secretary Babar Hayat Tarrar and Law Secretary Abul Hasan.

The YNA had not called off the protest till the filing of this report.

Sanaullah’s reaction

Reacting to Imran Khan’s remarks, Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said that Khan should refrain from seeing political capital from the nurses’ protest. He said that Khan’s politics was limited to protest rallies and demonstrations. He said the PML-N government had taken unprecedented steps for the improvement of service structure of doctors and nurses.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 12^th, 2014.