ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister Dr Zafar Mirza on Thursday announced an increase of up to Rs50,000 in the salaries of doctors of the federal government hospitals.

However, the All Employees Pims Restoration Movement (AEPRM) while rejecting the pay increase as a lollipop announced that it would not withdraw its call for a strike from Monday.

It said on June 1 the special assistant had announced an additional amount of Rs238 million for around 3,000 regular nurses and nursing students of the federal capital claiming that each nurse would get a financial benefit of up to Rs13,000 per month. Though the announcement was stated to be an Eid gift, it could not be implemented due to an objection by the Finance Division.

After making the announcement at Pims, Dr Mirza told the media that the ministry had proposed increasing the special health allowance and the non-practicing allowance for the doctors of Pims and Federal Government Services Hospital.

Employees reject announcement and vow to go ahead with their strike from Monday

He said the additional allowances will increase the salaries of doctors in Basic Pay Scale (BPS) 17 to 21 from Rs40,000 to Rs50,000.

“Doctors serving in BPS 17 have been given 75 per cent increase of initial Basic Pay 2018 and the allowance shall be paid based on key performance indicators (KPIs) to be developed by the federal government. A similar increase has been given to doctors serving in BPS-18. Doctors serving in BPS-19, 20 and 21 will get 50pc raise in the basic pay 2018.”

He said an additional Rs784 million would be required to pay the enhanced salaries and the prime minister himself had approved the increase in the salaries of the doctors.

Dr Mirza said the government was committed to resolving problems of health professionals as health sector was among the top priorities of the government.

He said a change would be noticed in the health sector within a month as the government was working day and night to improve its structure. From Sept 10, the primary health sector of the city, including RHCs and BHUs, will be fully functional.

He said the ministry will also take an important decision on Bone Marrow Transplant Unit in upcoming days.

He said the draft of Medical Teaching Institute (MTI) for government sector hospitals had been prepared and soon an important decision will be taken on the matter.

On the other hand, staff of Pims held a meeting and rejected the announcement of the special assistant, terming it a lollipop.

AEPRM spokesperson Asfandyar Khan told Dawn that during a meeting it was decided that employees would close the outpatient departments from 8am to 10am on a daily basis.

“MTI is nothing but an attempt to privatise the hospital and run it through a board of governors (BoG) due to which not only we will lose job security but patients will also suffer as they will have to pay for the treatment just like in private hospitals,” he said.

“Even during the announcement it was stated that the increase would be given on the KPI basis which means that the BoG would decide if an increase in salaries should be given or not. The decision to enhance the salaries would be taken on the basis of nepotism. Moreover, on June 1, the special assistant to the prime minister had announced to increase salaries of nurses but it could not be increased due to objection of the Finance Division,” he alleged.

Dr Asfandyar said the ministry had established Insaf Doctors Federation (IDF) in the hospital and on Thursday not only a representative of the IDF moderated the event but also a banner of the federation was pasted on the wall.

“It is an attempt to politicise the doctors but it will have very dangerous consequences. We fear that in future, appointments, promotions and decisions will be taken on political basis and opposition parties may also establish their wings in the hospital,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2019