Nurses end sit-in after successful talks but not before Karachi suffers traffic mess

Protesting nurses ended their sit-in at the Karachi Press Club (KPC) after eight days on Monday, as the Sindh Health Department agreed to forward their demands to the competent authority and the provincial finance department for deliberation.

Male and female nurses from different public hospitals of the city, including the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, the National Institute of Child Health, the Civil Hospital Karachi and other health facilities had boycotted their duties to daily hold a sit-in at the KPC.

For their demands to be accepted, the protesters had also tried to march on the Chief Minister House on Thursday, but they were stopped by the police. Heavy contingents of anti-riot police backed by Rangers officials had been deployed with water cannon around the KPC since Monday morning, after the protesters had announced that they would try to march on the CM House again.

“We held talks with the representatives of the protesting nurses at the Commissioner House and assured them that their demands would be forwarded to the competent authority for deliberation,” Health Secretary Saeed Awan told The News.

Awan said that a four-member delegation of the Sindh Nursing Association was invited for a discussion at the Commissioner House, where he and Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Shalwani talked with them, following which the nurses decided to call off their protest and return to work on Tuesday (today).

An agreement signed by the health secretary, the commissioner and the nurses’ representatives was also issued to the media, according to which a four-tier formula prepared in consultation with the nurses would be expedited for approval from the competent authority.

Similarly, the health authorities agreed to request the finance department to consider the provision of health professional allowance to the nurses in due course of time, while it was also agreed to send the cases of nurses’ promotions to the departmental promotion committee as well as the boards.

According to the agreement, the health department said the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC) had already been asked to expedite the recruitment of more staff nurses, while more posts would be sent to the SPSC after a change in their nomenclature in accordance with the agreement in the four-tier formula.

Traffic jams

The protesters caused severe traffic jams for hours in the old city area, on Sharea Faisal, MA Jinnah Road and the connecting roads as well as in the adjoining streets.

Motorists were stranded on the roads after the police cordoned off Sarwar Shaheed Road, where the protesting nurses were holding their sit-it, resulting in a chaotic situation as hundreds of police and Rangers officials and their vehicles left little space on the road for anyone else.

A large number of people visit the old city area on the first day of the week to attend their offices and businesses, but they could not reach their destinations in time on Monday due to one of the worst traffic jams in the locality.

No arrangements had been made by the traffic police to maintain the flow of vehicular traffic in the city despite knowing of the nurses’ protest as well as being aware that it was the last day before the start of Ramazan, which meant a large number of people were out for buying groceries and shopping for other items.

Massive traffic jams were also witnessed on Sharea Faisal and Preedy Street, and due to the closure of the road for several hours, enraged motorists held a demonstration against the traffic police, chanting slogans against the law enforcement agencies and the provincial government.

“Ramazan has not started yet and we’re seeing a massive, hours-long traffic jam in the city,” said Muhammad Anwar, a motorist stuck in traffic at Sharea Faisal for several hours. “This shows the mismanagement we’re going to face in the coming days, as no plan and alternate arrangements have been made by the authorities to maintain the flow of vehicular traffic in the city during the holy month.”