Civil servants, doctors protest against govt

It is not just the opposition parties agitating against the government as the provincial bureaucrats in Lahore and the staffers at Islamabad’s top hospitals are also among those protesting against its policies, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Wednesday.

According to details, the PMS (Provincial Management Service) officers are continuing with their protest at the Civil Secretariat in Lahore. 

But what are their demands? It is the dominance of the bureaucrats from the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) – previously and still commonly known as the District Management Group (DMG) – which irks them.

In this connection, the PMS officers, wearing black bands on their arms, are calling for sending their PAS counterparts back to Islamabad from the province. Not only this, they also want to transfer the current chief secretary – Jawad Rafique Malik.

The other main demands include considering the proposals submitted by the PMS members for civil service reforms and ensuring appointments/ posting according to the set quota from their cadre.

And in Islamabad, the staff members at PIMS (Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences) are in protest against the imposition of the MIT Ordinance for the 10th consecutive day.

With both doctors and paramedical staff pressing for withdrawing the ordinance, the patients have been facing great hardships as the OPDs (out-door patients departments) are closed.

Chanting of slogans against the management, thousands of protesters gathered inside the premises while using speakers for sloganeering and speeches.

Why this protest against the federal government? Shouldn’t the doctors and paramedical staff focus on serving the masses? Well! The government has decided to privatise PIMS under the MIT (Medical Institute Ordinance). So the patients visiting the hospital will have to pay the hefty check-up fees just like other private hospitals.

Healthcare workers are protesting in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa too against the PTI government plans concerning the privatisation of state-run hospitals.

It is quite astonishing to see the PTI opting to privatising the health sector given that promising better services through a revolution in health and education sectors has been its main slogan as it attacked the PML-N for the mega infrastructure and transport projects like Metro and Orange Line.