KARACHI, Sept 12: The Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) has requested the federal government allow it to retain 30-35 doctors who were appointed on a contract basis about two years back, hospital sources said on Wednesday.

Many of the doctors had staged protest demonstrations recently against the government’s decision to remove them from their jobs.

However, the hospital administration has now strongly recommended to the federal health ministry to allow the doctors to continue with their jobs at the hospital, at least for the time being, according to a senior doctor.

Earlier, the federal health ministry had informed the JPMC that the doctors were required to be replaced with those selected by the Federal Public Service Commission recently.

Many doctors recommended by the FPSC have, in the meantime, reported at the JPMC after funds were made available to it for payment of the salaries against the approved regular posts, it is learnt.

Since there is no new sanction of such posts at the JPMC, the ministry is considering ways and means to accommodate the contractual doctors as well, according to another source.

Some of the doctors facing retrenchment have already been doing specialisation. “It would, therefore, be pertinent to allow the contractual doctors to retain their jobs at Karachi,” the source said, pointing out that after getting advanced education and training, the doctors could prove to be worthier even if they did not serve at the JPMC.