January 8, 2003	Wednesday	Ziqa’ad 4, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 7: Pakistan People’s Party on Monday denounced continued victimization of Sindhi doctors working on contract for the past several years and demanded the regularization of their services.

The threat of termination from jobs that would lead to hardship to the doctors and their families must be removed immediately, PPP Information Secretary Taj Haider said in a statement.

He said it was a matter of concern that while doctors in other provinces had no such threat to their jobs, those working in the rural areas of Sindh for the past several years had the sword of termination hanging over their heads.

“It is even worse that despite pleadings before the authorities and holding of protest demonstrations, the administration has turned a blind eye to the plight of the doctors,” he said.

The doctors plan to hold a sit-in outside Chief Minister’s House in Ghotki on Jan 12.

Taj Haider said most of the contract doctors had put in more than seven years of service in remote areas and gained valuable experience, which qualified them to be absorbed on a regular basis.

“It would be a travesty of justice and a mockery of good governance if these doctors were thrown out of jobs and replaced with the regime’s favourites,” he said.