KARACHI: Out-patient Departments (OPDs) at all public hospitals of the city remained open on Thursday despite a call given by the joint action committee of doctors protesting for over a week for regular appointments and other demands. The administrators of the city’s two major public sector hospitals, Civil Hospital and Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, distanced themselves from the protestors, saying that there was no strike being observed at these facilities. In other cities of the province, however, a partial boycott was observed at OPDs of public health facilities. Hyderabad, Jacobabad, and Jamshoro were among cities where OPDs at some public facilities remained closed on Thursday. The boycott call was given by the JAC after talks with a delegation of provincial authorities failed to break the deadlock on Wednesday. The protesting doctors have maintained that the provincial government is not complying with the orders of the high court and the Supreme Court of Pakistan regarding timely promotions on vacancies and better service structures. They have demanded that promotions should be announced for those serving on the same basic pay scale (BPS) for many years. Speaking to the media on Thursday, Dr Razzak Rajpar, the media coordinator of the JAC, said that the government needed to regularise all doctors serving on contractual appointments and reimburse them for differential in salaries. “Time-scale promotions should be given to all those who have been denied promotions for many years,” he said, adding that 4,000 doctors must be promoted immediately, in accordance with the apex court’s order. He warned that the protest would continue till all the demands were met. A representative of the Pakistan Medical Association disclosed to the media on Thursday that a meeting of the promotion board was likely to take place in the next month. “We have come to know that a promotion board is going to meet on March 2. It could take up the promotion issues of the doctors,” said Dr S M Qaisar Sajjad, the secretary general of the PMA. “Therefore doctors should end the OPD boycott and wait for the meeting’s outcome. Principally PMA doesn’t favour the boycott,” he added in what was a reversal from his statement of support for the OPD boycott on Wednesday. The PMA secretary general expressed dismay over the government’s lackluster attitude towards the protesting doctors. “The problem is that the Sindh government isn’t obeying court’s orders. Doctors have no other choice but to protest. Doctors in Sindh are already working harder compared to their counterparts in other provinces, as their strength is low so government should expedite work on issues pending a solution for long.” Meanwhile a representative of the Sindh Chief Secretary visited ailing Dr Usman Mako at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD). He inquired after the health of the doctor and assured that the government would consider meeting all their legitimate demands. Dr Usman Mako and another protesting doctor were hospitalised on deterioration of their health during a hunger strike camp that ended on Wednesday. Published in Daily Times, February 23rd 2018.