YDA threatens: OPD strike across the Punjab

LAHORE: The Young Doctors’ Association Punjab has threatened to expand its protest and boycott work in OPD wards across the province. “We have been pushed to the wall and are left with no other option,” YDA Punjab president Ajmal Chaudhry said at a press conference at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology on Monday.

He said the YDA had held 18 demonstrations and token strikes in three weeks… “But the government hasn’t even offered to negotiate.” He said police had failed to catch the culprits behind the recent murder of a doctor in Sahiwal. “If the government does not provide us assurances vis-à-vis administrative and security issues, we will be forced to take extreme measures.”

So far, the YDA has tried to make sure that patients are not inconvenienced because of the protests. “If the government forces us to expand our protest, we will not hesitate,” he said.

The deceased doctor’s family was promised compensation but the government did not follow through on it, Chaudhry said.

He said there could be no compromise on such matters. “The government must ensure security for doctors at the earliest.” He said that they would defer their protest till after the YDA’s General Council meeting, scheduled for March 16 or 17.

He said the general council would take the final decision on their strategy. He said there was consensus over a one-day strike at the OPDs in the Punjab every week if demands were not met. “The general council could, however, consider intensifying the protest.”

Apart from ensuring security to doctors and bringing the culprits of the murdered doctor to book, the YDA’s demands include raising the salaries of post-graduate trainees and implementing the agreed service structure. They have also demanded the induction of doctors in grade 18, promotions for dentists and paid house jobs at Fatima Jinnah Medical College.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2015.