Three hospital employees sacked for 'harassment plaints'.

LAHORE -- The Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) administration has removed two women work-charge employees (nurses) and a regular staffer (attendant) after they lodged complaints to the higher authorities about being harassed at the board's premier infirmary in Lahore -- Janki Devi Hospital.

Sources claim that the ETPB, instead of investigating the matter to ensure protection of the women staff at the hospital, acted upon a baseless inquiry report submitted to it by the top officials of the hospital against the employees.

'It is deplorable that the employees who should have been protected from harassment by the ETPB faced termination of their jobs after they lodged complaints,' says a source. 'Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif must take notice of the situation by ordering the authorities concerned to conduct an inquiry into the issue,' he demands.

Two of the sacked employees, having service of more than 15 years in the hospital, also had restraining order from the Lahore High Court 'that no adverse action shall be taken against them'. 'The third one is a regular employee but in her termination order, it was written that her service contract had been terminated,' says the source. He adds that their termination orders were issued with retrospective effect.

Two staff nurses and the attendant residing in hospital's quarters complained to the ETPB chairman about the issues they claimed to have been facing for long. They also claimed that they complained to the hospital's authorities but to no avail, forcing them to lodge complaints to the ETPB head.

'A person used to sit in the office of Medical Superintendent Dr Farah Hafeez. He also had his ECG at the infirmary dedicated for the women patients. Once he also misbehaved with me while I was administering injection to him in the presence of the MS. The MS also used to harass the women employees through the subordinate staff,' Nuzhat Nasreen, staff nurse, complained in her application to the ETPB chairman.

'I would request you to take action against the officials involved in harassing the...