RAWALPINDI, Oct 15: Doctors have threatened to lock up the Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) and the Holy Family Hospital (HFH) on Thursday to protest against the disappearance of their colleague from the Railway Hospital and press for their demands.

The doctors’ action committee chairperson Dr Sherin Mohammed Yousafzai, in a statement issued here on Wednesday, said medical practitioners were feeling insecure, besides facing so many other problems in the hospitals.

The community called upon the Punjab government to immediately announce revised packages for house officers and trainee doctors.

“We are not paid properly. We have no entitlements, no security and no other facilities. We have unanimously decided to launch a series of protest until the government accepts our legitimate demands,” Dr Yousafzai said.

The committee chairperson said the emergency wards of the two hospitals in Rawalpindi would not be disturbed, but all other sections, including the OPDs, would be locked up in protest against the government.

Dr Yousafzai said the monthly salary of a house officer should be increased from Rs12,000 to Rs25,000, while the salary of postgraduate trainee (PGT) doctors should be increased from Rs15,000 to Rs35,000.

She regretted that MCPS trainees were getting no salaries and stipends, and demanded that the government should announce facilities and packages for the trainee doctors.

“How can a doctor live a normal life without any salary in this age of spiraling prices of commodities,” she said.

Dr Yousafzai threatened that the protest would be extended for an indefinite period in case the government failed to meet their demands. She called upon the protesting doctors to stand firm on their demands.