Peshawar: Chairman of the Neutral Doctors Community, Dr Adnan Afridi, on Wednesday announced that doctors in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would continue their protest until the provincial government issues a notification granting a 30 percent increase in their basic salaries.
Addressing a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club along with doctors from Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC), Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) and other hospitals, he said the doctors had been on strike for the past 24 days to press for the salary increase.
He said the community had decided to continue the pen-down strike and boycott routine hospital duties following the alleged assault on protesting doctors by security personnel at LRH a day earlier.
Dr Adnan said doctors felt unsafe even at their workplaces after the incident and announced that they would stay at home during the protest. However, he said one doctor would remain on duty in each ward and emergency cover would continue to prevent patients from suffering.
He alleged that doctors demanding their rights had been subjected to violence in hospitals and said the incident at LRH should be investigated.
He also demanded legal action against security personnel involved in the alleged assault and those who ordered the action.
The doctors’ representative said they had been invited for negotiations by the Health Department but were repeatedly asked to wait, which, he alleged, had wasted their time.
He said the doctors already had a negotiating committee and their demand for a 30 percent increase in basic salaries was a legitimate right.
Dr Adnan said the protest would continue until the demand was met, adding that if negotiations were held in future, the doctors would engage directly with the Chief Minister rather than other officials.
He warned that any attempt to harass doctors at their homes would also be resisted through legal action, stressing that the doctors’ community would take all lawful steps to protect its members.
He claimed that around 6,000 TMOs and HOs were currently participating in the strike and alleged that the government had not adequately responded to their concerns.
Dr Adnan said doctors had continued to provide medical assistance during emergencies and major incidents despite their protest, adding that they had stepped forward whenever casualties required treatment.
He further said the doctors were prepared to go through additional stages of protest if their demand for a 30 percent salary increase was not accepted.
The chairman also alleged that doctors had not received an adequate increase in salaries over the past two decades and called for their grievances to be addressed through meaningful negotiations.
He reiterated the demand for an inquiry into the alleged assault at LRH and action against those responsible, while stressing that the doctors’ movement would continue until their demand was addressed.