Pims employees warn of strike over delay in repealing of MTI act.

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) employees on Monday threatened to close down the outpatient department (OPD) to protest the delay in the signing of the bill by President Arif Alvi to repeal the Medical Teaching Institution (MTI) Act.

The bill to repeal MTI was passed by the National Assembly on October 18 and sent to the president for approval, as it was already passed by the Senate of Pakistan. However, Mr Alvi has yet to sign the proposed legislation.

The Pims employees alleged that the president was delaying the process because the MTI act was legislated by his party, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) which was ousted through a no-confidence vote in April this year.

During a meeting, the employees decided that they will start protests and may shut down outpatient departments (OPDs) as an initial step if the president failed to give his assent to the bill during the ongoing week.

Staffers say entire hospital suffering due to uncertainty surrounding the law

Federal Health Alliance (FHA) Chairman Qamar Gujjar said that employees were left with no option but to opt for protests and eventually shut down the hospital. He said that because of the delay in signing the bill, the entire hospital was suffering due to uncertainty.

FHA Spokesperson Dr Haider Abbasi said that Dr Alvi, being a dentist himself, should consider the problems of the healthcare workers. 'It is unfortunate that the bill has been passed by Senate and National Assembly but President [Alvi]...