KARACHI: Mayor Wasim Akhtar and representatives of the doctors of the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital reached an agreement on Monday after the doctors staged a rally on M.A. Jinnah Road in front of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s head office to press for the release of their long suspended salaries.

The doctors of the largest KMC-run hospital had been protesting over the non-payment of their salaries for many months on the ASH premises for a fortnight, causing hardship to thousands of patients arriving at the hospital. However, they arrived outside the KMC building on Monday and staged a demonstration there.

The protest severely affected vehicular traffic on one of the busiest arteries of the metropolis. Representatives of the protesting doctors were summoned by the mayor’s office for negotiations.

Mayor Akhtar, flanked by the metropolitan commissioner and other senior officials, met the delegation. A notification later issued by the KMC said the issues were discussed at length for payment of stipends of doctors which were “seriously viewed with great concern by the mayor”.

Officials said the mayor ordered that stipends for PGs [postgraduates] or HOs [house officers] would be disbursed by April 12.

“Every month, regular stipend with one-month previous pending stipend for PGs or HOs will be made before disbursement to the other employees of the KMC, priority to be given in the matter and responsibility taken by the KMC financial adviser.”

It said the stipends for the PGs and HOs would be put in the regular stream of the salary system as being done for regular employees of the KMC. Besides, bills of 68 HOs would be referred to the finance department within three days.

Published in Dawn, April 2nd, 2019