ISLAMABAD: While Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) has moved a resolution in the Senate for the rejection of the Medical Teaching Institution (MTI) Ordinance, the employees of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) on Thursday held a rally in different areas of the capital terming it a warmup exercise for their march towards Parliament House on Dec 31.

The protesters told residents that the ordinance will also affect them as it happened in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They expressed gratitude to the citizens and traders for supporting them and urged them to join their rally towards Parliament House.

The resolution, submitted by Senator Sirajul Haq, stated that the ordinance promulgated by the president should be rejected by the house.

The ordinance was promulgated by President Dr Arif Alvi last month which suggested that the hospital will be run through a board of governors (BoG).

According to the ordinance, the BoG will deal with all affairs of Pims once it becomes a MTI. Its members have been appointed and notified by the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) on the recommendation of a search and nomination council. They also held a meeting and elected Dr Hamayun Mahmand as the chairman of BoG.

A large number of Pims employees riding buses, cars and motorbikes participated in the rally which passed through G-8, G-9, G-10, G-11 and adjacent areas. The citizens, especially trader leaders, assured the employees that they would join them when they hold a rally towards Parliament House or Banigala.

Grand Health Alliance (GHA) Chairman Dr Asfandyar Khan told Dawn that an understanding had been made with the police that the protesters will stop for 10 to 15 minutes at different places and will deliver speeches.

GHA spokesperson Dr Hyder Abbasi said the prime minister should not listen to his advisers and suspend the ordinance amidst the second wave of Covid-19.

Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2020