At last: G-B approves salary for doctors equal to centre’s

The decision, which will be retroactively in effect from Jan 2014, will benefit more than 250 doctors and 30 nurses.

GILGIT: The Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) government has approved the federal government’s salary package for doctors and other paramedical staff in G-B, accepting their long-standing demand.

The announcement was made through a notification issued by the regional finance department on Wednesday, mentioning that the decision will be retroactively in effect from January, 2014.

Heath allowance and increment in pay will be given to doctors of BPS-17 and above along with nurses of BPS-16 and above of the G-B health department, stated the dispatch.

“With it, pay of doctors will increase by at least 35%,” said a doctor, adding up to 250 doctors and 30 nurses will benefit from the decision.

The doctors showered praise on Chief Minister Mehdi Shah and Minister for Health Gulbar Khan for keeping their promise. “This is a historic decision and we are thankful to the authorities,” said Dr Ghulam Haider of the Pakistan Medical Association in G-B.

The demand for a package, equivalent to doctors employed by the federal government, was voiced earlier in G-B. Given the limited resources, the G-B government kept delaying the issue for more than a year.

However, earlier this year, as part of the protest to get higher salaries, doctors stopped treating patients in private clinics as well as government hospitals for a week in Diamer, Hunza-Nagar and Astore valleys. 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 6^th, 2014.