News
Ad hoc nurses continue protest in Lahore for their demandsLAHORE: The ad hoc nurses on Saturday continued their sit-in in front of the Punjab Assembly on The Mall to press the Punjab government and Health Department to regularise their services.
The nurses have been staging protest on The Mall where Chief Minister’s Adviser on Health Salman Rafiq, PML-N leader Khawaja Imran, Health DG Dr Zahid Pervaiz, Health Sectary Babar Hayat and other government officials engaged in negotiations with the protesting nurses, but failed to convince them to end their protest until the filing of this report.
Sources said that government officials offered the ad hoc nurses that their services would be extended by three years on a contractual basis, and than they would be regularised after three years.
The ad hoc nurses showed their reservations over the issue and did not accept the offer. As per the details, the talks between the government officials and ad hoc nurses suspended for an hour to decide a new strategy for resolving the issue. However, the government officials, including police high-ups, again approached the protesters on The Mall at around 9:50pm and started negotiating with them again in order to resolve the issue immediately.
As the ad hoc nurses continue to protest outside the Punjab Assembly, their colleagues at public hospitals of Punjab and Balochistan are holding sit-ins against the police torture.
Meanwhile, nurses in Rawalpindi and Islamabad also protested against Friday’s police crackdown on their colleagues in Lahore. The medical staff in government-run hospitals of the twin cities suspended their services for hours, leaving patients in suffering. Earlier, the Lahore city police placed barriers on both sides of The Mall. Meanwhile, nurses chanted slogans against the Punjab government for not fulfilling their demands and use of police force against them. They have been demanding that their services be regularised like that of lady health workers and the doctors.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk