Non-payment of `support money’ - PMA urges Sindh govt to honour commitment

MN Report

Karachi: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), Karachi, has demanded of the Sindh government to honour the commitment made by chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah with the Association’s leadership vis-à-vis doctors’ demands at a meeting held a year ago at the CM House.

Speaking at a news conference at PMA House, Dr Shaukat Ali Malik and Dr Ahmed Bhimani, president and secretary of the PMA, Karachi, respectively, recalled that the PMA leadership during a meeting held a year ago with the CM had put up four demands - payment of Rs10 million to the family of each doctor killed as `support money’, effective security system and firearm licences for doctors and trial of the cases pertaining to deceased doctors in military courts.

However, despite acceptance of all these demands by the CM in the presence of provincial ministers for health and home, secretaries of health and home departments, IGP and Commissioner Karachi, only two of them have been partially implemented, so far, they deplored.

The said that though the PMA had demanded that the family of each doctor, who became victim of targeted killing in the city, be paid Rs10 million as `support money’, the government approved only Rs2m. “Now these poor families are desperately waiting for the promise of the Sindh government to be honored, but probably a lobby in the bureaucracy does not want this to happen,” they added.

They also regretted that although the government had promised to try the cases of deceased doctors in military courts, it has not yet been done, so far.

Praising the Rangers’ director general and his team for restoring peace in the city, they said security of doctors has improved and incidence of extortion cases declined considerably in the metropolis.

The PMA office-bearers demanded of the chief minister to direct the concerned authorities to expedite the process of payment of `support money’ to the families of all the doctors killed in the city and also implement other demands within 15 days, or else the PMA will have no choice but to announce its new strategy for the implementation of its already accepted demands.