Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir doctors warn of launching strike from January 26

Islamabad, Jan 11 (IANS) The United Doctors Forum (UDF) — an umbrella organisation of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) and the Young Doctors Association (YDA) in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) — has warned the authorities of launching a protest from January 26 if their “long-pending and legitimate” demands were not agreed to, local media reported.

UDF Chairman Dr Wajid Khan and General Secretary Dr Arshad Raja, who are the heads of the PMA and YDA, respectively, made the announcement during a press conference, where they were joined by other office-bearers, including Dr Waqar Butt, Dr Basharat Hayat, Dr Aamir Ikram, Dr Raja Imtiaz and Dr Bilal Ahmed.

Criticising the years of delays that had impacted the health system and demoralised medical professionals, they said doctors had shown patience and used all constitutional, legal and democratic ways for their problems, Pakistani daily Dawn reported. However, the authorities were not resolving their issues, they said.

“Unfortunately, instead of being resolved, our issues are being further complicated, and decisions are repeatedly deferred,” Khan said, adding that such delays had pushed the healthcare system into uncertainty.

The UDF leaders said that the promotion process in the Health Department had stopped, with promotion cases remaining pending since 2019, leading to several doctors retiring without being promoted. They called the absence of a permanent Director General of Health a major issue, stressing that the department could not be run on an additional-charge basis.

The UDF leaders voiced serious concern over the non-payment of financial benefits and allowances to doctors since June 2022, despite a verdict issued by the Supreme Court, Dawn reported. They mentioned that government hospitals were facing an acute shortage of medical facilities and modern equipment, and termed the presence of only one MRI machine in the entire region “deeply alarming”.

They even expressed concerns over security threats being issued to women doctors and paramedical staff, physical violence incidents in hospitals, one-sided probe, and police action. They claimed, “In every such incident, doctors are made scapegoats, which is grossly unfair.”

The UDF leaders announced that a two-hour open strike would start in PoJK from January 26, and it would continue for two weeks, adding that more than 1,200 doctors from the entire region were expected to observe the strike. During the strike, OPDs would remain shut while emergency services would continue, but failure to act by February 2 would lead to the launch of complete hospital shutdowns.

–IANS

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