Day three: Doctors go on hunger strike for better service structure
Health minister says it is their right to protest and have proper terms of employment.
File photo of young doctors protesting.. PHOTO: INP/FILE
PESHAWAR:
After previous protest attempts to garner attention failed, members of the Young Doctors Association (YDA), Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) resorted to going on a hunger strike until the government gives them what they want.
On day three of their demonstration on Saturday, YDA protesters continued to urge the provincial government to make changes to the service structure of 7,500 K-P doctors. They are also asking for better medical facilities at public hospitals.
Demonstrators endured the severe heat and noise pollution at their camp site near Sher Shah Suri Bridge on GT Road.
Talking to The Express Tribune, they expressed frustration with public officials who failed to fulfil promises made to YDA members. According to them, the former health minister told them three months prior that the provincial government would improve the terms of their employment contracts. However, the government has not taken any steps in this regard, said Alamgir Khan, president of the association.
“They do not intend on providing us with a proper service structure in the next financial year,” said Arsalan Khan, a protester at the camp.
After holding several protests and organising news conferences, the doctors are now resorting to a hunger strike. Protesters held out documents that listed all the promises made to them by the provincial government in the last few years.
“A number of capable doctors are migrating to other countries for better job opportunities,” said one demonstrator. If the government reworked the terms of their employment and provided better facilities at public hospitals, these doctors would have served their own country, another YDA protester said.
Earlier, Health Minister Sharam Khan Tarakai said protesting doctors should talk to him about their issues.
“They have the right to protest and they also have the right to their service structure,” the minister said, adding the government does not want to sell the doctors short.
The YDA president, however, said that no government official has tried to contact them.
He added they are expecting more doctors from across K-P to join their hunger strike in the coming days.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 18th, 2014.
After previous protest attempts to garner attention failed, members of the Young Doctors Association (YDA), Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) resorted to going on a hunger strike until the government gives them what they want.
On day three of their demonstration on Saturday, YDA protesters continued to urge the provincial government to make changes to the service structure of 7,500 K-P doctors. They are also asking for better medical facilities at public hospitals.
Demonstrators endured the severe heat and noise pollution at their camp site near Sher Shah Suri Bridge on GT Road.
Talking to The Express Tribune, they expressed frustration with public officials who failed to fulfil promises made to YDA members. According to them, the former health minister told them three months prior that the provincial government would improve the terms of their employment contracts. However, the government has not taken any steps in this regard, said Alamgir Khan, president of the association.
“They do not intend on providing us with a proper service structure in the next financial year,” said Arsalan Khan, a protester at the camp.
After holding several protests and organising news conferences, the doctors are now resorting to a hunger strike. Protesters held out documents that listed all the promises made to them by the provincial government in the last few years.
“A number of capable doctors are migrating to other countries for better job opportunities,” said one demonstrator. If the government reworked the terms of their employment and provided better facilities at public hospitals, these doctors would have served their own country, another YDA protester said.
Earlier, Health Minister Sharam Khan Tarakai said protesting doctors should talk to him about their issues.
“They have the right to protest and they also have the right to their service structure,” the minister said, adding the government does not want to sell the doctors short.
The YDA president, however, said that no government official has tried to contact them.
He added they are expecting more doctors from across K-P to join their hunger strike in the coming days.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 18th, 2014.