QUETTA: Striking nurses of government-run hospitals in Quetta threatened on Thursday to close down emergency services in the Civil Hospital and the Bolan Medical College Hospital from Friday (today) if the government continued to ignore their demands.

The nurses have been on a strike for a couple of days across the province against the non-acceptance of their demands by the government.

Their demands include payment of Professional Health Allowance and Risk Allowance, increase in stipend from Rs10,000 to 20,000, raise in their salaries in line with what nurses in other three provinces have been getting, announcement of service structure for nurses in Balochistan and establishment of a colony for married nurses.

The leaders of the Nurses Action Committee and Balochistan Nursing Association, Ms Shugufta Islam and Emalia William, expressed their serious concern over the attitude of the provincial health minister and other officials concerned towards non-acceptance of their legitimate demands and said that this attitude had now forced them to boycott even emergency services in government hospitals which otherwise they did not want to do.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2017