LAHORE:Young doctors held demonstrations all over the province in order to press the government for the acceptance of their demands.

In the provincial capital, the medics blocked many major roads causing a great deal of inconvenience to motorists and patients who could not reach hospitals due to traffic mess.

The Punjab chapter of Young Doctors Association had given province-wide protest call for the acceptance of some of their pending demands. The protesters blocked the Ferozepur Road, Lahore Canal near Jinnah Hospital, Jail Road near Punjab Institute of Cardiology/Services Hospital and Queen’s Road near Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

They also staged sit-ins outside their respective hospitals and raised slogans against the Punjab government for using delaying tactics in addressing the demands despite making promises.

Addressing on the occasion, the YDA leaders said the government had finalised draft of service structure after consultation with all the stakeholders. Many demands were fulfilled but some of them were yet to be addressed.

They were of the view that the health and law departments were raising ‘unnecessary’ objections to the agreed demands of the young doctors.

YDA office-bearer Dr Bandesha said the government had promised to create 800 new positions of the postgraduate trainee doctors at teaching hospitals of the province in addition to 290 more PG slots at the newly established government health facilities. However, the cases were pending for approval, he said adding that the government had yet to provide special pay package agreed in the same draft of the service structure.

He said the YDA had also rejected the decision of outsourcing the government health facilities and the young doctors would continue agitation once a week till the acceptance of all demands.

MULTAN: Scores of doctors held a protest demonstration against the proposed privatisation of state-run hospitals and shortage of facilities at irfirmaries.

The protesters under the banner of Young Doctors Association held a demonstration at the main gate of Nishtar Hospital and also took out a rally that concluded on District Jail Road. The protesters termed the proposal anti-doctor and anti-public.

They said the government hospitals of south Punjab, including Nishtar, were already facing shortage of required facilities and patients were neither being provided with quality medicines nor they were getting facility of free diagnosis tests.

They said the government did not fulfil its promise of service structure for doctors while house officers were also not being provided with promised facilities.

They said they would not put up with privatisation of the hospitals and would expand their protest by launching a long march on the parliament if the provincial government did not accept their demands.

BAHAWALPUR: The YDA, Bahawalpur chapter, held a demonstration against the Punjab government for privatisation of health centres and hospitals.

They also demanded funds for the newly appointed postgraduate residents (PGRs) of the Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH).

The YDA members raised slogans against the government, saying though the government had increased the posts of PGRs in the BVH but funds for them had not been released. They said the government had increased the PGRs allowance but it was paid to them.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2015

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