The dismissal of 22 assistant professors from Lady Reading Hospital was also condemned
PESHAWAR
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Doctors Council has strongly rejected the imposition of professional tax on doctors by the provincial government, terming it “cruel and unjust.”
In a joint press conference held at the Peshawar Press Club (PPC) here on Wednesday, representatives of various doctors’ associations demanded immediate withdrawal of the decision and warned of province-wide protests if their demands are not met.
Speaking to the media, Council President Dr. Majid, along with Dr. Janbaz Afridi from People’s Doctors Forum, Dr. Adil from Young Doctors Association, Dr. Waseem Malgari Doctors, and others, criticized the deduction of professional tax directly from doctors’ salaries in Medical Teaching Institutions (MTIs), saying the Excise and Taxation Department’s letters in this regard should be withdrawn without delay.
A three-member committee has been formed by the Council to negotiate with the government, and the Council has demanded that all actions related to tax deductions be halted until a resolution is reached.
They called for an increase in doctors’ salaries, including those of house officers, trainee medical officers, and medical officers, in line with rising inflation in the provincial budget.
The doctors also asked the provincial government to abolish heavy fines imposed by the Healthcare Commission and end the harassment of doctors over drug sales licenses, with full implementation of the relevant court orders.
The representatives of the council lamented that no new jobs for doctors have been advertised by the Public Service Commission since 2017, which he termed an injustice. The Council demanded immediate job advertisements and recruitment of new doctors through PSC.
The doctors also criticized the functioning of MTI hospitals, demanding:
Recruitment and promotion processes in MTIs are aligned with PMDC standards instead of decisions made by Policy Boards.
The Council also expressed serious reservations over a recent statement by the Chief Secretary that doctors’ promotions were being evaluated based on the performance of the Independent Monitoring Unit (IMU).
They demanded that promotions be made solely on the basis of Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs).
The dismissal of 22 assistant professors from Lady Reading Hospital was also condemned, with the doctors calling for their immediate reinstatement.
Doctor council president Dr. Majid warned that if these grievances were not addressed promptly, the doctors’ community would be left with no choice but to launch a province-wide protest movement, for which he said the provincial government would be held entirely responsible.
