PESHAWAR, Sept 10: The Provincial Doctors Association (PDA) has criticised the government for what it calls using delaying tactics to regularise services of ad hoc doctors and threatened to launch a protest campaign if the demand was not met soon.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, PDA senior vice president Dr Munir Mehsud said that the association had time and again requested the government to regularise services of ad hoc doctors but to no avail.

Flanked by PDA joint secretary Dr Khalid Farooq and Malakand chapter president Dr Irfan, he said that service structure for doctors was also a longstanding demand of the community but government was intentionally using delaying tactics in that regard.

Despite protest and agitation by doctors, the PDA leader said, the government didn’t bother to pay attention to their demands.

He said that it was responsibility of the government to regularise services of those doctors, who were serving on temporary or ad hoc basis.

Dr Mehsud said that more than 439 doctors were appointed on ad hoc basis in the province. Many of them served for more than 17 years in the same grade, he said, adding they were nearing retirement.

He lashed out at the government for introducing Essential Service Act, saying the step was totally unconstitutional. It was injustice with the doctors, he said.

“We will not accept such legislation, which is against the basic human rights,” Dr Mehsud said and demanded of the government to immediately repeal the Act to end the growing unrest among doctors in the province.

The PDA leader said that a draft of the service structure had been prepared by the government but it was not implemented so far.