PESHAWAR
Doctors under the banner of the Young Doctors Association (YDA) have decided to start peaceful protests by holding walks in the premises of public sector hospitals across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Speaking at a press conference at Peshawar Press Club (PPC) on Thursday, the spokesperson of the YDA Dr Faisal Barakzai said that doctors with civil society organizations of the province would hold peaceful walks across the province against the provincial government policies and alleged corruption in the government run hospitals.
On this occasion, other office bearers of the association were also present. They alleged that the provincial government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan is struggling for elimination of corruption but hospitals of KP have become safe haven for irregularities and anomalies.
The spokesperson maintained that YDA has identified a number of cases of corruption but no action was taken, adding that hospital authorities are taking actions against those doctors who pinpoint scams and irregularities.
“YDA has decided to hold peaceful protests in hospitals from next week. Civil society representatives will also support and take participation in the protests,” he added.
Dr Faisal Barakzai said that doctors including Dr Tariq Barki, Dr Amir Ghafoor and Dr Jameel Shah were removed from their services in Lady Reading Hospital for raising their voices against the alleged corruption by administration. The provincial government did not take notice of the alleged corruption by the officials of the administration. Instead, they were given promotions to next grades. He alleged that corruption, anomalies and irregularities were also rampant in other major hospitals of the province but the provincial government has turned deaf ears towards them. The hospitals including LRH, hospitals in Swat, Nowshera and Abbottabad were involved in alleged corruption with any fear of accountability, he added.
“Whenever YDA demands accountability of those government officials who are involved in irregularities the government turns their action towards them instead of action against the corrupt mafia,” he said. The provincial government fired a number of doctors from LRH, HMC and MMC Mardan for highlighting corruption cases.
YDA representatives maintained that the provincial health minister and secretary health have given assurance of action against corrupt elements in the hospital administrations but so far no practical steps have been taken in this regard.
