PESHAWAR, June 28: Democratic Doctors Forum has demanded of the government to raise the monthly stipend of the house job doctors upto the pay scale of BPS-17.

Speaking at a news conference here on Monday, president of the Democratic Doctors Forum (DDF), Dr Abdul Aziz, said that the house officers performed 24-hour duties at the teaching hospitals, but they were given only Rs5,000 as monthly stipend.

The DDF he said had been formed to fight for the rights of the house jobbers. "The house jobbers get Rs7,000 in Balochistan as monthly stipend, while in Punjab the government has announced Rs10,000 stipend for them", he said.

Flanked by his general secretary, Dr Ajmal Afridi and others, he said that the house officers also faced accommodation problems at the three teaching hospitals of the city. He requested that new hostels be constructed to cater to the accommodation requirements of house officers.

Under the rules, it was the responsibility of the government to provide free accommodation to house jobbers, because they did 24-hour duties. Dr Aziz said that they had met the provincial health minister and apprised him of their problems two months ago.

The minister had promised to look into the problems, but despite the lapse of two months, their problem has remained unresolved. "Our problems have rather increased, because the health department has started deducting Rs700 as utility charges on monthly basis from their stipends", he lamented.