The Provincial Paramedical Association Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has threatened a three-day protest against the non-issuance of seniority lists.
Association leaders said that no seniority list has been issued since 2022, due to which dozens of officials have retired, but they do not know in which grade they retired from service.
While holding a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club, Senior Vice President Taj Muhammad and General Secretary Shams-ul-Taj said that if the health department does not issue the seniority lists within a week, a protest will be held in front of the Health Secretary’s office on November 11, 12 and 13.
If the government does not pay attention to this, a protest movement will be launched across the province for an indefinite period, the entire responsibility of which will fall on the provincial government and health department officials.
Taj Muhammad said that the appointment of people from unrelated cadres in the medical faculty is leading to corruption, so experienced health department officials should be appointed in the institution.
He said that some health department officers have been in their positions for years and the issues of paramedics are not among their priorities.
He said that seniority lists have not yet been released for promotions in grades 12 to 14 and grades 14 to 16, although according to the law, provisional lists must be released in January every year and final lists by March.
The leaders of the Provincial Paramedical Association also completely rejected the outsourcing of 57 government hospitals in the province, saying that the government is adopting an anti-poor policy by handing over the health sector to private contractors. He said that outsourcing will make treatment expensive and facilities for the public will be limited.
Taj Muhammad further said that 60 percent of the upgraded posts have not been upgraded yet in the merged districts, due to which paramedics are deprived of their basic rights.
He said that appointments are being made to the upgraded posts of pharmacy technicians in the cadre of paramedics contrary to the service rules, which is unacceptable in any case.
Shamsul Taj said that we do not want to cause pain to the patients, but due to the unserious attitude of the health department, protest is our only option. If the government does not fulfill its promises, the paramedical staff will be forced to protest province-wide.
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