YDA Punjab and BBH to block roads on March 31

Rawalpindi
The Young Doctors Association Benazir Bhutto Hospital has announced to observe complete strike at the hospital’s outpatient department and to block Benazir Bhutto Road in front of the hospital on March 31 if the government does not start a meaningful dialogue with the YDA Punjab for fulfilling demands of the young doctors.
The YDA Chapter at BBH announced the protest plan following an announcement made by the YDA Punjab that has given the Punjab government a deadline of March 31, coming Tuesday for initiating dialogue in connection with its demands. The YDA Punjab has announced to follow an action plan, a series of protests from March 31 onwards if the provincial government continues to give deaf ear to the young doctors’ demands for which the YDA has been protesting peacefully for nearly three months.
The YDA Punjab has launched the series of protests three months back alleging that the Punjab government did not fulfil the demands of the YDA as was promised by it after a months-long strike by the YDA in 2012.
The YDA Punjab held a meeting in Faisalabad on March 18 with representatives of various chapters of major cities of the YDA in the province where in it decided to give March 31 as deadline to the provincial government for initiation of a meaningful dialogue and planned to follow a series of protests if the government does not pay heed to its demands.
The YDA Punjab decided that it would close all major roads in Punjab including The Mall Road, Ferozpur road, Jail road, Canal Road in Lahore along with major roads in all major cities across Punjab including Murree Road (Benazir Bhutto Road) in Rawalpindi on March 31.
The YDA Punjab also decided to observe complete strike in OPDs of all major public sector teaching hospitals in the province on coming Tuesday.
The YDA demands from the Punjab government include implementation of promotions and service structure as was approved by it in November 2012, increase in paid post graduate trainees slots, induction of doctors in grade 18 by implementing revision of pay scales of doctors and increase in salaries of Medical Officers, Post-Graduate trainees and House Officers as was promised by it in 2012.
The YDA Punjab also demands the government to resolve the promotions and other issues of young doctors in dental cadre and should affiliate Post Graduate Medical Institute Sheikh Zayed Hospital Lahore with the University of Health Sciences, said Information Secretary of YDA BBH Dr Muhammad Waqas Ilyas while talking to ‘The News’ on Thursday.
He said the YDA has been demanding paid house jobs for medical graduates of private institutions and foreign countries who are forced to do unpaid house jobs while paid seats for house jobs are lying vacant throughout the province. He added the YDA at BBH supports the stance of the YDA Punjab completely and would organise a protest demonstration on March 31 after blocking Benazir Bhutto Road at 10 O’clock in the morning.