PESHAWAR, July 8: The Frontier Doctors' Association (FDA) has demanded that the government should raise the monthly stipend of trainee medical officers (TMOs) to the level of the amount being paid to their counterparts in Punjab and other provinces of the country.

The association also demanded to resolve their boarding and lodging problems and exempt them from room rent and power and gas charges. The demands were made at a meeting of the FDA held at the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) on Thursday.

The meeting was attended by TMOs from the three major hospitals of the provincial metropolis - KTH, Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) and Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC). It said that the stipend given to the TMOs was too small to meet their basic requirements, saying that doctors of their cadre were paid three times more stipend in Punjab and Sindh.

They demanded that their stipend should be increased up to the level of Punjab. The doctors also criticised the administration of the KTH, saying that it was the unique hospital in the world where the room rent was deducted from the stipends of the TMOs and other junior doctors.

They said that they were performing their duties in a teaching hospital, where they remained to be on call for 24 hours and it was the responsibility of the government to provide them free accommodation.

They asked the government either to reduce and specify their duty hours or exempt them from room rent and electricity and gas charges as these charges were not collected from doctors in teaching hospitals anywhere in the country or in the world.

They also urged hospital administrations to take serious note of the dilapidated condition of doctors' hostels, saying that the condition of hostels was very poor but the administration was paying no heed to better it.

Addressing the meeting, Dr Imtiaz Afridi said that the government and the administration of the KTH should stop what he called the step- motherly attitude with the doctor community and exempt them from extra charges like room rent, air conditioner and gas charges.

Dr Zafar Iqbal of LRH lauded efforts of the FDA for resolving the longstanding problem of accommodation faced by doctors at the LRH. The meeting also passed a unanimous resolution, stating that the TMOs would continue their struggle for the attainment of their just rights and till the acceptance of their demands under the umbrella of the newly-established doctors' body, the Frontier Doctors' Association.