KARACHI: The Constitutional Bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) has ordered the immediate payment of the COVID-19 allowance to 92 house job doctors of Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, ending a years-long delay in their dues.
During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel, Advocate Jibran Nasir, informed the court that a notification had been issued during the pandemic to grant a monthly allowance of Rs. 24,000 to house job doctors. However, despite the passage of several years, the doctors have yet to receive the payment.
“The house job doctors were receiving a monthly salary of Rs. 45,000. With the inclusion of the COVID-19 allowance, the total monthly payment was supposed to be Rs. 69,000. It has been nearly 7 years, but the allowance remains unpaid to the 92 doctors deployed at the hospital,” Advocate Nasir argued, requesting the court to intervene.
The Defense Arguments: The provincial government’s counsel argued that Abbasi Shaheed Hospital is managed by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), meaning the Sindh government has no direct role in the matter. Meanwhile, the counsel representing KMC requested the court to dismiss the constitutional petition altogether.
Despite the objections from the authorities, the Sindh High Court accepted the constitutional petition and formally directed the relevant administration to clear the outstanding COVID-19 allowance for the doctors.
