By: Asif Mehmood Awan
Provincial Doctors Association Abbottabad has presented a charter of demand to the government for approval of its demands. DHQ Abbottabad President Dr. Moazzam Khan Jadoon, while addressing the protest demonstration, said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Doctors Council rejects the cruel professional tax imposed on doctors by the provincial government and demands that it be restored to the old rates like other provinces. In this regard, a 3-member committee has been formed to negotiate with the government and demand that the actions that have been initiated be stopped immediately. He further said that the Excise and Taxation has issued a letter to the Finance Directors of the MTIs and the Accountant General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to deduct the salaries of doctors. It should be withdrawn immediately.
The salaries of all doctors, including house officers, trainee medical officers and medical officers, should be increased in proportion to the inflation in the provincial budget. The heavy fines being imposed on doctors by the Healthcare Commission in the name of registration should be immediately abolished and a suitable procedure should be devised for this by taking the doctor into confidence. Along with this, the harassment of doctors in the name of drug sales license should be stopped immediately. He further said that the decision taken by the doctors in this regard in the court should be implemented. After 2017, no job advertisement has been published by the Public Service Commission (PSC), which is complete injustice and exaggeration. The council demands that jobs be advertised through the Public Service Commission immediately.
In MTI hospitals, instead of the policy board, the recruitment and promotion of doctors should be ensured according to the procedures and standards laid down by PMDC like the rest of the country. The difficulties being created in the appointments of civil servants to whom the MTI Board of Governors has given NOC should be eliminated and civil servants should also be provided with an opportunity to serve in MTI. The disregard for merit and nepotism in appointments in MTI hospitals should be stopped immediately and the supremacy of merit should be ensured in appointments. Dr. Moazzam Khan said that the announcement issued by the Chief Secretary regarding the Independent Monitoring Unit (IMU) that the promotion of doctors has been made on the basis of the performance of the IMU, the doctors’ community has serious reservations about it, it should be removed and the promotion should be done on the basis of the ACR.
The KPDC categorically rejects the dismissal of 11 assistant professors from Lady Reading Hospital and demands that the government of the day reinstate them immediately. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Doctors Council places all these demands before the government of the day to resolve this matter seriously and relieve the medical community from the constant mental anguish so that they can focus on their service. Otherwise, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Doctors Council will adopt the path of protest for its legitimate demands, for which the entire responsibility will fall on the government of the day.
