KARACHI, Jan 1: Work at the casualty department of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre came to a halt on Wednesday afternoon when more than 200 postgraduate doctors at the hospital went on strike demanding a stipend.

Official sources told Dawn on Wednesday that the postgraduate doctors had sought to speak to the federal health secretary, Ejaz Rahim, when he had come to attend the certificate distribution ceremony of the College of Nursing at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. Mr Rahim had, however, declined to speak to the striking postgraduate doctors, saying that he had already taken the administrative steps requesting the government to institute a stipend for the postgraduate doctors.

Last week the Postgraduates’ Action Committee had staged a demonstration in front of the office of the director of the JPMC.

A JPMC spokesman said the negotiations between the postgraduate doctors and the administration had not been successful. He admitted that as the postgraduate doctors constituted more than 50 per cent of the total strength of the JPMC, work would suffer a lot if they remained on strike for long. He said that since 2pm work at the casualty department, where more than 200 patients turned up on a daily basis, had been at a standstill.

Representatives of the Postgraduates’ Action Committee claimed that in provinces other than Sindh the postgraduate doctors received a monthly stipend.