Protesters demand Presidential Ordinance to settle issue

Islamabad :Harping the same old tune of the past, the government offered a sugar-coated pill to protesters Thursday, with the Prime Minister merely approving the summary for separation of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) from Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU), and placing the draft bill on the Cabinet agenda. The anguished protesters, in turn, served the government with a week’s deadline to issue a Presidential Ordinance for separation of the two entities or “be prepared to face the music.”

“The Prime Minister has seen, and in his capacity as Minister In-charge of the Cabinet Secretariat, has been pleased to approve the placement of proposed draft bill to amend SZABMU Act 2013 on priority agenda of the Cabinet Committee for Disposal of Legislative Cases,” reads a notification issued by the PM’s office.

“Having exhausted all peaceful means, we have decided to intensify our efforts. We urge the authorities to enact the amendment through a Presidential Ordinance latest by October 18, 2017, failing which all kinds of patients services, except emergency, will be withdrawn. The responsibility for the resultant inconvenience to patients will then solely lie on the decision makers,” the spokesman of the All Employees’ Movement for Restoration of PIMS Dr. Asfandyar stated.

Minister of State for Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Tariq Fazal Chaudhry assured the protesters that following Cabinet approval, the bill would be presented in the Parliament.

“The government is not taking any practical steps for resolution of the crisis. The draft bill has only been moving from one table to another and from one ministry to another for the last 14 months,” they protesters stated. “Had the bill been presented in the recently concluded session of the National Assembly, as demanded by us, we would have softened our posture,” they added. The protesters are in no mood to settle for any formula other than a Presidential Ordinance.

It is pertinent to mention that employees of all other public sector hospitals in Islamabad have also expressed their willingness to support the PIMS Restoration Movement by expanding the agitation through their participation.

PTI representative Asad Umar also joined the protesters on the 10th day of the strike. He criticised the government for delaying decision on an issue that affects thousands of patients every day.