Protesters say closure will render hundreds of people jobless.PHOTO: RASHID AJMERI/FILE
Hundreds of doctors, health technicians and paramedics on Thursday staged a protest demonstration against a government decision to shut down rural health centres (RHCs).
Holding banners and placards, they marched on various city roads. They later staged a sit-in at Zila Council Chowk in front the district government secretariat.
They also gathered in front of the district coordination officer’s (DCO) office and blocked University Road for traffic.
The protesters demanded that the government continue to run the RHCs.
Naveed Anwar, one of the protesters, told the media the RHCs had been running under the Punjab Rural Support Programme. He said closure of the centres would render hundreds of their workers jobless. They include 1,200 man and 136 woman doctors.
“The [government’s] decision will create problems for us.”
“If these centres are closed, the people in surrounding villages will have no access to prompt and affordable medical treatment,” Anwar said.
He said the burden on government hospitals, including Faisalabad’s Allied Hospital and the district headquarters hospital, would also increase if the RHCs were closed.
The protesters dispersed when Muhammad Arshad, a representative of the DCO, assured that their concerns would be raised before the authorities concerned.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 25th, 2014.
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