Karachi:Young doctors, nursing students and paramedical staff of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) on Wednesday observed a token boycott of the out-patient departments and operation theaters in protest against the non-payment of salaries.
Some 400 to 500 young doctors, nursing students and paramedical staff gathered in front of the directorís office and raised slogans against the JPMC administration for the non-payment of salaries to them for the last five months.
They also announced that they would completely boycott the OPDs and the operation theatres at the JPMC from Thursday for the acceptance of their demands. They, however, said they would not disrupt emergency healthcare services at any cost.
A leader of the Young Doctorsí Association (YDA), Azizullah, told The News that many young doctors, including house officers and postgraduate trainees as well as nursing students, had not been paid their stipends for the last five months.
The federal government and the Sindh health department claimed that they had already provided budgets to the JPMC administration for the payment of salaries to its staff, he said, adding that it was now the responsibility of the JPMC administration to pay them their salaries.
ìThe protesting young doctors and paramedical staff unanimously resolved that from Thursday onwards, they would completely boycott the OPDs, ward duties and operation theaters in protest against non-payment of salaries,î he said.
The director of the administration of the JPMC, Chaudhry Akram, said the administration had already written to the AGPR for the release of salaries to the JPMC staff.
ìThe issue is of nursing students, and they were joined by the young doctors. But the issue would be resolved within next two to three days as we have already taken it up with the AGPR,î he said.
The ambiguity over the status of the JPMC School of Nursing, whether it is part of the JPMC or an independent institute, resulted in the non-payment of stipends to the nursing students for the last many months.
The secretary of health, Rizwan Ahmed, had clarified it time and again that as soon as the federal government clarified the status of the JPMC School of Nursing and Basic Medical Sciences Institute (BMSI), the Sindh government would provide funds for the payment of salaries to their staff.The news.
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