Abbassi Shaheed Hospital protest: Doctors salaries paid, backlog to be cleared by Sep 10: Dr Samdani

Karachi: Director of the Abbassi Shaheed Hospital, Dr Faisal Samdani has said that all the doctors have been paid salaries this month.

Dr. Faisal Samdani has issued a video statement regarding the payment of salaries to the doctors after they staged several days of protest on the matter.

Dr Samdani said that the number of under-training post-graduate doctors in the hospital stands at 36, adding that these young doctors have already been paid salaries on August 22.

He further apprised that salaries have also been paid to the new appointments on the 1st of this month. He informed that the remaining 32 doctors whose particulars were not complete, owing to which their salaries were delayed.

 

However, he said that their salaries will be paid today.

He further informed that the three-month salary backlog will also be cleared by September 10.

The director of the hospital said that despite clearance of salaries, some doctors are not coming to their duties and also not conducting biometrics.

The Director warned that strict actions are being taken against the doctors not performing their duties and those who are not working.

Earlier, in the previous month, the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital saw several days of demonstration by house officers who demanded “equal pay for equal work.”

The protest continued for days in front of the administration building and ended after the officials assured them of a meeting with the city mayor within two days.

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“We are not demanding a raise. We just want our salaries should be at par with what our colleagues are getting at other government-run hospitals in the province for the same job. But, we are told that the ASH is under the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and not the provincial government,” shared a protester.

He explained that 250 doctors had been offered jobs at the ASH following completion of their MBBS degree at the Karachi Medical and Dental College (KMDC).

“We are offered Rs45,000 per month while our colleagues at other government hospitals are getting Rs70,000. Even the KMDC dental graduates, who work at the outpatient department within the college, have been offered Rs70,000. This is highly unfair,” said another protester.