The protesting young doctors of Sindh on Tuesday refused to end their strike, following the failure of talks with Sindh’s health secretary.
On the call of Young Doctors Association (YDA) Sindh, junior doctors went on strike in the province in favour of their demands that include equivalent pay scale to Punjab, allowances and others. Their strike has been going on for two days now.
As per details, a delegation of young doctors led by Dr Mehboob Ali held negotiations with the health secretary.
The meeting agreed upon fixing salaries of house officers and PG by Rs 50,000 and Rs 90,000 per month, respectively.
The delegation stressed upon the secretary for immediate issuance of a notification about the demands that have been accepted by the Sindh government, whereas the secretary refused from doing so. “Reply will be given to you after consultation with Chief Minister Murad Ail Shah,” the health secretary said.
Doctors have boycotted Out-Patient Departments (OPD) at all government hospitals in Karachi as well as other parts of the province, including Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Badin, Jacobabad, Kashmore, Thatta, Mirpurkhas, Tando Allahyar, Dadu, Jamshoro and other small cities.
Due to doctors’ strike, thousands of patients faced inconvenience amid closure of OPDs and absence of doctors at hospitals.
Hundreds of patients who arrived to seek treatment and diagnostic facilities from far flung and remote areas of more than 12 districts suffered.
In this way, the 1,500-bed capacity Chandka Medical College Hospital (CMCH) remained paralysed. CMCH Medical Superintendent Dr Ali Gohar Dahri informed that it is the responsibility of the Sindh government to come forward and accept the just demands of the doctors in the province.
Published in Daily Times, January 30th 2019.
