MUZAFFARABAD:United Doctors Forum (UDF) — an umbrella organisation of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) and the Young Doctors Association (YDA) in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) — on Friday warned the government of a state-wide protest from Jan 26 if their “long-pending and legitimate” demands were not accepted.

The warning was issued by UDF Chairman Dr Wajid Khan and General Secretary Dr Arshad Raja — who also serve as heads of the PMA and YDA, respectively — at a press conference here.They were flanked by other office-bearers, including Dr Waqar Butt, Dr Basharat Hayat, Dr Aamir Ikram, Dr Raja Imtiaz and Dr Bilal Ahmed.

Lamenting that years of delays had paralysed the health system and demoralised medical professionals, they said doctors had long shown restraint and exhausted all constitutional, legal and democratic forums for redress.

“Unfortunately, instead of being resolved, our issues are being further complicated and decisions are repeatedly deferred,” Dr Khan said, adding that such delays had pushed the healthcare system into uncertainty.

The UDF leaders alleged that the promotion mechanism in the health department had completely collapsed, with promotion cases pending since 2019, resulting in several doctors retiring without promotions.

According to them, a committee headed by the chief secretary had failed to convene even one effective meeting over the past three years, reflecting “serious administrative failure and lack of governance.”

The continued absence of a permanent director general of health had emerged as a major issue, they said, maintaining that the department could not be run on an additional-charge basis. “If a regular DG is not appointed, doctors, as key stakeholders, will resist any such arrangement,” they warned.

The UDF leaders also expressed strong concern over the non-payment of financial benefits and allowances to doctors since June 2022, despite a clear Supreme Court verdict. They said a notification issued in Feb 2025 was contrary to the court’s ruling and amounted to “open injustice”.

Highlighting infrastructural shortcomings, they said government hospitals across AJK were facing an acute shortage of medical facilities and modern equipment. Medical machines installed in 2009 were still in use in 2026 despite having exceeded their operational life. They described the presence of only one MRI machine in the entire region as “deeply alarming”.

Referring to medical colleges, they said key positions such as principals had been rendered ineffective, Poonch Medical College was functioning in a dilapidated condition, and despite the approval of the PC-I for Mirpur Medical College, construction work was progressing at a “painfully slow” pace, adversely affecting academic standards.

The UDF leaders also raised concerns over security threats to women doctors and paramedical staff, incidents of physical violence in hospitals, one-sided inquiries and police action. “In every such incident, doctors are made scapegoats, which is grossly unfair,” they said.

They reiterated demands for the immediate payment of salaries to PST and contract doctors, regularisation of doctors serving for years, and prompt regular recruitments through the Public Service Commission.

On the health card policy, the UDF leaders said it was a highly sensitive matter but doctors had been completely excluded from policymaking. They warned that the inclusion of private hospitals without proper categorisation would burden the public exchequer and lead to the wastage of public funds.

They also protested against the severe shortage of residential facilities for doctors and house officers, as well as the non-implementation of incentives and allowance packages for doctors posted in remote areas.

Announcing the protest plan, the UDF said a two-hour open strike would begin across AJK from Jan 26 and continue for two weeks. During the strike, OPDs would remain closed, while emergency services would continue. Failure to act by Feb 2 would lead to complete hospital shutdowns.

The UDF leaders claimed that over 1,200 doctors from across AJK were expected to participate in the strike.

Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2026