PESHAWAR: The Young Doctors’ Association on Tuesday complained about the low pay of medical officers, trainee medical officers and house job doctors in the province and demanded of the government to bring it on a par with that of the medics working in Islamabad and Punjab province.

Spokesman for the YDA Dr Faisal Barakzai told reporters at the Peshawar Press Club that medical officers, trainee medical officers and house officers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa hadn’t got any raise in salary and stipends for the last nine years though they performed duties in hospitals round the clock.

“We held several meetings with the caretaker ministers and found their attitude to be very positive, but if they deceived us and didn’t increase our pay in the upcoming budget, we will be staging protests across the province,” he said.

Accompanied by YDA general secretary Dr Fahimullah Mehsud and YDA Khyber Teaching Hospital chief Dr Muzzaffar, Dr Barakzai said members of the caretaker setup, investigative agencies and bureaucracy couldn’t start inquiries into the corruption of the last government in the health sector.

He demanded action against those who “harmed the healthcare system in the last few years.”

The YDA spokesman alleged that members of the caretaker government and bureaucracy were “shielding corrupt practices of the previous government.”

He said the doctors of Ayub Medical Complex Abbottabad received salary lower than what was received by their contemporaries in other parts of the province.

Dr Barakzai demanded a good pay raise for those medics to bring their salaries on a par with those drawn by medical practitioners in other areas of the province.

He said all those aspiring for postgraduate training should be inducted by the health department.

“We ask the government and Postgraduate Medical Institute to ensure induction for all in postgraduate training and enhance slots of dental surgeons.

The PGMI should issue no objection certificates to all the doctors wanting to pursue specialization, he said,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2023