KARACHI, Oct 16: Teachers and doctors have criticized the government for planning to privatize health and educational institutions of the country.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday at the Pakistan Medical Association, the president of the Karachi University Teachers’ Society, Sarwar Naseem, demanded that the government spent at least 12 per cent of the total national budget on health and education sectors.

“All the bodies of teachers all over the country have rejected the draft Model University Ordinance, because the present government has no mandate to promulgate an ordinance which has such far-reaching consequences. Besides the government is seeking to implement the so-called reforms in education and health sectors without taking the stakeholders into confidence.”

He said that on Thursday no classes would be held in Karachi University where a rally would be taken out from the chemistry department at which students and teachers would take part. He added that teachers, doctors, students, parents and other stakeholders would stage a demonstration in front of the Karachi Press Club on Monday at 11.30pm.

The president of the Sindh Professors Association, Mirza Athar Hasan, said that rallies by teachers and students had taken place all over the country peacefully. “It was only in Karachi that the law-enforcement agencies used force against the teachers and students. The use of force will not deter us from pursuing our mission.”

He added that denationalization of hospitals and educational institutions would affect society in an adverse manner.

A representative of the Talba Mahaz Committee said that during the past three years of army rule, the pace of denationalization of health and educational institutions had picked up. “In the last two months, students and teachers have been tortured three times. Still, they are prepared to face force and torture but they have vowed that they would not go back on their principled stand.”

He added that the government had been informed that teachers and students had rejected the recommendations of the task force on higher education but still the government had gone ahead with the Model University Ordinance.

The president of the PMA, Karachi, Dr Haseeb Alam, said the budgetary allocations for the Prime Minister House and the President House in Islamabad were greater than the amount spent on the health sector every year. “The little amount of money that the health and education sectors receive is consumed by the administrative expenses, such as the salary of the staff,” he explained.

The secretary-general of the PMA, Dr Shershah Syed, said the PMA had been struggling against the privatization of hospitals for the past one year. “But now we have extended our struggle to protest over the privatization of educational institutions as well. We also believe that it is the responsibility of the government to provide its citizens with free basic health care facilities and education.”

He said that such important issues should be decided by the next government which would consist of the elected representatives of the people.

While supporting struggle of doctors and teachers in Punjab and NWFP, he demanded that the government provide free primary and emergency healthcare to every citizen without any discrimination, besides establishing healthcare facilities in all parts of the country.