12 November 2004	Friday	28 Ramazan 1425

ISLAMABAD, Nov 11: The postgraduate trainee doctors of different hospitals in the capital are yet to see the implementation of the health minister's orders concerning an increase in their monthly stipend.

Health Minister Mohammad Nasir Khan had announced increase in monthly stipend from Rs6,210 to Rs10,000 in June. However, the inordinate delay in the execution of the minister's orders is creating unrest among the trainee doctors, a source told Dawn.

A larger number of trainee doctors working in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) and the Federal Government Services Hospital have been affected due to "indifferent attitude" of the hospital managements, the source said.

On the other hand, the trainee doctors working in different hospitals of Rawalpindi have been getting the enhanced amount of Rs10,000 since July.

"Federal health minister's order was implemented in letter and spirit in Punjab and Sindh, but not in the federal capital where hospitals are under his direct command," a trainee doctor working in Pims said on condition of anonymity.

The health minister wants to turn the federal government hospitals, especially Pims, into centres of excellence, but this dream cannot be realized until trainee doctors, who are the backbone of any teaching hospital, are given their rightful benefits, he said.

He said the doctors hired recently by the hospital administration on contract were enjoying all benefits, like free medical and hiring facilities, but trainee doctors were still deprived of such perks.

"How can we concentrate on our studies and training empty pocketed when the uncertainty about our status in the hospital looms large," another Pims doctor said.

The trainee doctors said when they approached the hospital administration about this state of affairs, the latter shifted the whole blame to the Health Ministry. The administration said our cases had been forwarded to the ministry, which had not yet responded, they added.

About their future line of action, they said they would continue looking after the patients and would not observe any strike because it was against the ethics of their profession.

They also recalled that the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan, realizing the importance of the postgraduate trainee doctors, had also warned that the hospitals concerned would be deprived of their teaching status if trainee doctors were not paid their stipend.

The trainee doctors demanded that their arrears should be immediately settled so that they could also enjoy Eid.

When contacted for comments, a spokesman for Pims said the hospital was unable to offer any relief to the trainee doctors until the matter was finalized at the ministry level.