Doctors baton charged in Islamabad
Islamabad: Pakistan: Doctors and paramedical staff of Islamabad were baton charged by Islamabad police when doctors and paramedical staff rally reached Red Zone and protesters tried to enter into Prime Minister House.
Police started baton charge on protesters to disperse them because no rally is allowed in Red Zone area of Pakistan where the parliament, Prime Minister House, Presidency and Supreme Court of Pakistan are situated. Doctors and paramedical staff rally marched towards Prime Minister House to press their demands inducing release of health risk allowance. Rangers were summoned to disbursed the rally when doctors refused to stop their march towards PM House despite of baton charge over them.
Earlier, the Outdoor Patient Departments (OPDs) of all government hospitals in the federal capital had been closed by doctors and paramedical staff of Islamabad hospitals to protest on Tuesday morning against the freezing of health risk allowance.
The government had approved the health risk allowance in 2012 however the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government froze the increment on the allowance in the current fiscal year.
In order to protest register their protest against the freezing of the allowance, the doctors and paramedics of Islamabad hospitals including the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, (PIMS), National Institute of Health (NIH) and Capital Development Authority (CDA) hospitals among others today took out a rally towards the prime minister’s secretariat.
The protests said that they would continue to hold protest till the restoration of increment on health risk allowance.
Earlier on August 20 as well, the doctors and paramedical staff tried to march towards the prime minister’s secretariat against the freezing of increment on health risk allowance but the local administration and police thwarted their attempt by stopping them near Melody.
The protests by the doctors and paramedics were also held in various cities across Punjab.
The health risk allowance was approved by the PPP government after a prolonged protest at D-Chowk Islamabad by the employees of the federal government hospitals due to their exposure to infectious diseases and viruses.
