Daily Times

LAHORE: The Young Nurses Association (YNA) of government hospitals continued to protest for the second day against the government for not fulfilling their demands of health risk allowances and service structure reforms in front of Punjab Assembly, The Mall on Tuesday.

It is pertinent to mention that nurses had also held a sit-in on Monday outside the Punjab Assembly. A representative of the Young Nurses Alliance (YNA) had stated that the nurses from all government hospitals would stage their sit-in protest by 9am.

The nurses’ protest at Faisal Chowk proved to be a hindrance as traffic jam ensued in the surrounding area due to their protest. Nurses called for implementation of the “already announced” service structure as well as their health risk allowance.

The nurses camped on The Mall and also boycotted their indoor and outdoor duties in public hospitals. Their boycott caused many problems for the patients while their protest also blocked the roads, causing massive traffic jams. The Mall, Ganga Ram Hospital Road and Davis Road suffered the most at hands of the protest. YNA was protesting for their longstanding demands of appraisal in salaries, reforms in service structure and provision of health risk allowance. The nurses on the occasion vowed to continue their protest until the fulfillment of their demands.

The previous day, nurses’ strike had caused difficulties for citizens as their protest caused problems for daily commuters. Ambulances also faced trouble passing through Shahrah-e-Fatima Jinnah and The Mall, as both of these roads were blocked due to the protest.

After the protest, Punjab Chief Minister’s Adviser on Health Khawja Salman Rafeeq issued a warning to all those who were instigating nurses to go on strikes, saying that they would face strict action.

The protesters chanted slogans against the hospital administration for not approving their basic demands. However, the government and other concerned departments, including police, have planned to disperse the protesting nurses by imposing on them charges of violation of the court order that made it illegal to protest against government on The Mall.

YNA members Rosina and Nusrat Cheema said that the administration had shut down all the roads and streetlights around the protesting venue and later arrested the protestors forcefully. They said that the concerned officials cordon off the area and there might be a crackdown against them soon.