Doctors at Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Hospital continue protest for third day

ABBOTTABAD: Doctors at the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Hospital observed strike on the 3rd consecutive day on Tuesday against professional tax as no allied health services except emergency was provided at the health facility.

The angry doctors also staged a protest and threatened to expand their strike and block the main Karakoram Highway (KKH) if the provincial Health Department did not take steps to meet their demands.

Addressing the protesters, PDA President Dr Moazzam Khan, Dr Haroon-ur-Rashid and others criticised the imposition of unjustified professional tax on doctors and said that deduction has been made despite the fact that Peshawar High Court has already issued a stay order on the writ petition. It was nothing but the contempt of court, they added.

They added that Provincial Doctors Association President Dr Ameer Taj Khan had also brought the issue into the notice of secretary health Khyber Pakhtunkhwa through a letter a few days back. The protesting doctors claimed that the provincial government had been getting Rs5000 as professional tax from grade 20 officers while the doctors were asked to deposit Rs50,000. The doctors demanded immediate withdrawal of unjustified professional tax on doctors.