Protesting doctors want salary raised

PESHAWAR, April 13: The doctors of different teaching hospitals of the provincial metropolis staged a protest demonstration here on Wednesday against government for delaying increase in their salaries. Led by Provincial Doctors Association president Dr Shah Sawar, the protesters gathered on Sher Shah Suri Road and tried to march to Governor's House but security personnel didn't allow them. Carrying banners and placards, the protesting doctors shouted slogans against government and demanded implementation of their charter of demands. Talking to journalists, they said that they wanted to hold peaceful protest for solution to their problems but security personnel stopped them. "It is tantamount to ban on freedom of expression," they added. They said that the doctors in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were getting low salaries as compared to their colleagues in other provinces. They demanded increase in their salaries without any further delay. They said that provincial government was taking no interest in resolving their problems. The protesting doctors said that they served poor and ailing people in conflict-hit areas and put their lives at risk but government didn't recognise their services. They alleged that government didn't give due rights, incentives and reasonable package to doctors. Dr Shah said that provincial government was not serious in implementing their charter of demands as it was using delaying tactics. He demanded same package and incentives for doctors of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that were availed by their colleagues in other provinces. "The approved four-tier formula for delivery of better health services should be implemented in letter and spirit," he said and also called for creation of 6,000 jobs through Public Service Commission (PSC) for unemployed doctors in the province. He said that 500 trainee medical officers, who had qualified FCPS-I, should be inducted in different teaching hospitals and health facilities. "They have been jobless for the last six months," he said. The protesters also demanded security arrangement for doctors in the province.