Doctors reject professional tax, warn of protest

PESHAWAR: Doctors across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have threatened to suspend services and launch a province-wide protest after rejecting a new professional tax imposed by the provincial government, calling it an unjust burden on an already overstretched health workforce.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Doctors Council, in a meeting chaired by Dr Abdul Majid, demanded the immediate withdrawal of the tax and a halt to salary deductions initiated by the Excise and Taxation Department.

A three-member negotiation committee was constituted to engage with the government, while the council called for an immediate end to all recovery proceedings from doctors’ salaries.The council condemned the tax as discriminatory and urged the government to revert to the older tax rates, as practiced in other provinces.

It further demanded the withdrawal of letters issued to finance directors of MTI hospitals and the Accountant General KP, directing deductions from doctors’ salaries.The meeting called for a raise in salaries for all doctors, including house officers, trainee medical officers, and medical officers, in line with rising inflation.

Expressing concern over the imposition of heavy penalties by the Healthcare Commission under the guise of registration, the council demanded a halt to such actions.It said that a fair and transparent procedure should be developed in consultation with doctors. Similarly, the council said, harassment of doctors over drug sale licenses must end, and court decisions in this regard should be implemented.

The council criticised the Public Service Commission for failing to advertise medical jobs since 2017, terming it a grave injustice. It called for the immediate initiation of fresh recruitment through the commission. It urged that recruitment and promotion policies in MTI Hospitals be brought in line with PMDC standards, replacing the current practice of decisions being made solely by hospital policy boards.

The council demanded that civil servants granted NOCs by the MTI Boards of Governors be allowed to take up their new posts without administrative hurdles.Raising concerns over the alleged merit violations and nepotism in MTI hospital appointments, the council demanded transparency and merit-based recruitment.

It rejected a notification issued by the chief secretary linking promotions to the performance of the Independent Monitoring Unit, and instead called for the continuation of the existing ACR-based promotion system. The KP Doctors Council urged the government to address these longstanding issues without delay.It warned that failure to do so would compel doctors to adopt a course of protest, and the provincial government would bear full responsibility for any disruption in healthcare services.