SWABI: Teachers of Gajju Medical College, Swabi, have announced that they would boycott the classes from Wednesday (today), saying that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led provincial government has failed to accept their demands, mainly the grant of health professional allowance (HPA).

The call for boycott has been given by Gajju Medical College Teachers Association (GMCA). It will be for the first time that the college teachers would boycott the classes since its establishment in 2016.

The HPA was announced by the government last year as an incentive to improve health services delivery in the public sector hospitals. The teachers said that the delay in grant of HPA was not acceptable to them.

Dr Asif Kamal, general secretary of GMCA, said on Tuesday that they would continue the boycott of classes and other health services till acceptance of their demands by the provincial government.

The teachers said that patients in only emergency would be treated by doctors in Bacha Khan Medical Complex, Shahmansoor, while there would be no OPD and other health services.

Criticise govt for not paying them health professional allowance

They said that despite passage of eight months of the college the teachers had not been given HPA.

They said that a week ago they appealed to the government to accept their demand, but no one paid attention.

They said that the staff of other public sector colleges and hospitals had been given HPA from the last one year, but the Gajju college teachers were deprived of the incentive.

One of the professors said that because of no HPA the salary of a professor in grade-20 with 27 years of government service was less than a grade-17 medical officer appointed recently.

They said that the college had not been recognised as yet by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council.

He said it was responsibility of the government to save future of both the college and students.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2017