LAHORE: The Young Doctors Association (YDA) Punjab announced to shift the protest camp from the Charing Cross and set it up outside the Chief Minister’s Secretariat to strengthen the agitation against outsourcing of public hospitals.

The announcement came on the 11th day of the agitation of the Grand Health Alliance (GHA) where the employees, including doctors, nurses and paramedics, were spending days and nights to press the government to withdraw its decision.

YDA Punjab President Dr Shoaib Niazi said the senior leadership of the association, in consultation with the GHA representatives, had decided to intensify the protest. He said the government had given a cold shoulder to the protest which lasted for 10 day or so, prompting the YDA to change the protest venue to put more pressure on the higher authorities.

He claimed the health secretary was misguiding/misleading the CM by presenting distorted facts regarding their demands. He maintained the employees had decided to stage the sit-in outside the Punjab Assembly building to sensitise its members but no one resolved the matter despite the 11 days protest. This showed the Punjab Assembly or its members lacked potential or ability of mediation between the employees and the CM.

“Consequently, we decided to stage a sit-in outside the CM Secretariat today (Friday) to put pressure on the government to address the legitimate demands of the employees of the hospitals,” the YDA Punjab president said.

Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2025