News Desk |
Minister Shaukat Yousafzai, Provincial Minister for Information KPK, has strictly warned protesting doctors to mend their ways otherwise there shall be strong action taken against them. Since patients across the province are facing hardships, the KPK government has directed doctors to end their ‘politically motivated’ protest immediately.
The minister stated that a handful of doctors wanted to sabotage the health reforms in the province. “Not all but a few doctors are out to thwart reforms in the health sector by exploiting the recent incident. Doctors should end their protest by Thursday evening otherwise action would be taken against them,” he warned.
Since patients across the province are facing hardships, the KPK government has directed doctors to end their ‘politically motivated’ protest immediately.
Yousafzai commented that the government has fulfilled almost all demands of doctors since 2013 to 2019 and termed their present protest and strike unjust and politically motivated. He elaborated that in line with the health reforms, the KP government increased the strength of specialist doctors from 280 to 931, medical officers from 3639 to 8801, house officers 24000 to 62000 and TMO, 42000 to 103000.
Moreover, according to 4-tier formula, the government enhanced the strength of grade-20 doctors to 124 and grade-19 officers from 357 to 1087 and grade-18 from 706 to 2060. Similarly, under the 3-tier formula, the strength of grade-20 doctors has been increased from two to 11 while grade-19 doctors have been raised from 22 to 67.
Read more: Why don’t doctors recommend non-drug treatments?
The posts of paramedics, dentists and other staff have also been increased across the province, adding that their Health Professional Allowance has also been increased from Rs 10,000 to 140,000.
Demand of the Doctors
According to details, the doctors have boycotted their duties across the province after authorities did not fulfill their demand of filing a case against KP Health Minister, Hasham Inam Ullah, who is accused of beating a doctor of Khyber Teaching Hospital on Tuesday.
The posts of paramedics, dentists and other staff have also been increased across the province, adding that their HPA has also been increased from Rs 10,000 to 140,000.
The KP Doctors Council has said that their primary demand was that an FIR be registered against the beating of Dr Ziauddin, who works at Khyber Teaching Hospital, and a judicial inquiry be opened against Inamullah Khan. Dr Ziauddin and the minister shouted at each other during a meeting of the hospital’s board of governors, which led to a quarrel where the minister and his guard beat the assistant professor.
The minister claimed, however, that Nausherwan Burki, cousin of Prime Minister Imran Khan, was egged by the young doctors. Although KP Chief Minister, Mehmood Khan, took notice and ordered an inquiry into the incident, the doctors have been boycotting the OPDs of all the government hospitals in the province.
Read more: HIV-positive doctor transmitted HIV among patients in Larkana: Sindh Health Minister
G-M Pitafi, a Lahore-based academic and researcher, believes that the way KP government is dealing with young doctors is not a civilized one. “The health minister should have been polite and kind. Do you expect a minster to be a gangster? The government is supposed to be patient with a soft heart,” he said while commenting on the development.
He also fears that the situation may aggravate and the ultimate suffering party shall be the public. “Therefore, the KPK government must focus on the issue and register an FIR against the minister’s gunman, who was allegedly involved in the torturing of a doctor,” G-M suggests.