ASH house officers stage protest

KARACHI: The house officers of the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH), Karachi, continued their protest and boycott of the Outpatient Departments (OPDs), despite the payment of their stipend.

The house officers refused to end their protest till the clearance of the dues of their all colleagues, as the stipend of more than 30 doctors is yet to be deposited in their bank accounts. The house officers boycotted the OPDs and marched on the nearby streets in protest.

They chanted slogans against the Mayor of Karachi, and the Medical Superintendent, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. They demanded the KMC to pay the stipend of trainee doctors on a regular basis and clear all their dues as soon as possible.

The patient care at major Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) run hospitals have been severely affected for the last two weeks owing to the protest of trainee doctors over the non-payment of three months of salaries.

Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) leader, Karam-Ullah Waqasi, also paid a visit to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital to express his sympathy towards the protesting trainee doctors and assured them that their salaries would be deposited soon.

Senior Director, Medical & Health Survives Department, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), Dr Birbal Genani, said that the stipend for one month of around 300 house officers had already been deposited and only 30 cases with incomplete documentation are pending. He said that the salaries of the remaining trainee would be deposited to their accounts soon after the completion of their documents.

He feared that protest of trainee doctors is politically motivated and the trainee doctors are being toyed in the hands of these people.