Young doctors seeking pay raise threaten province-wide strike

KARACHI: Sindh’s young doctors have once again threatened to boycott out-patient departments (OPDs), operation theaters and other wards at all public hospitals across Sindh over the provincial government’s failure to issue a notification increasing their salaries and allowances.

If the provincial government didn’t issue a notification with regard to increase in their salaries and allowances until Tuesday (tomorrow), the doctors across the province would go on strike from Wednesday, warned the Young Doctors Association Sindh.

The medics said a summary which would bring their salaries and other perks at par with their counterparts in Punjab awaited Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah’s approval and lamented that they were not being informed about the reason behind delay in its approval.

Earlier, on Jan 30, the protesting doctors announced to end boycott of OPDs after successful talks with the provincial government. Adviser to the CM on Information Murtaza Wahab had announced that the talks between the government and protesting young medics remained successful.

“The OPDs will be opened in a while as junior doctors have called-off their strike,” Wahab said while addressing a press conference in the Sindh Assembly building along with the YDA office-bearers.

He said doctors of Sindh will be given allowances at par with their counterparts in Punjab. “Rs. 10,000 allowance will be given to doctors, while house officer will get allowance of rs. 15,000,” the adviser said.

He further added that Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah will sign the summary within a week in this regard.