LAHORE – The British Doctors Association of Pakistani-origin has thrown weight behind the chief of Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI), Dr Saeed, a day after the official was reprimanded by the Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar.
In a video message shared on Sunday, the president of the association, said that one could easily earn 3,000 pounds a day in the UK while performing the duties merely for a day, adding that if a doctor leaves to his motherland to help his country fellows, he should not be engaged in controversies.
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“The treatment meted out to Dr Saeed is condemnable,” pleaded the official and requested the top judge and the public to support the overseas doctors who travel back to their homeland and sacrifice a luxurious life.
In another video, Dr Abdul Hafeez, who is currently performing his duties as a family physician in the Middle East, also justified the salaries and perks received by doctors at Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI) and other health facilities.
The medic asserted that overseas doctors can earn even more if they refuse to head back to home, contending that those who sacrifice and devote their life to fellow Pakistanis should be given respect. In a direct reference to Dr Saeed, Hafeez justified the ‘hefty’ salary received by the doctor as the head of PKLI, saying it happens across the world.
“Mahathir Muhammad of Malaysia gave special incentives to overseas doctors to bring them back to their homeland,” added the medic.
Additionally, another overseas medical practitioner opined that he wanted to start charity work in Pakistan but the bureaucracy created such hurdles that he decided to leave the country, lavishing praise on Dr Saeed for having subjugated a hefty package in the US to serve in Pakistan.
The support comes on the heels of a notice by the top judge of Pakistan, Mian Saqib Nisar, who censured Dr Saeed on Saturday for displaying a portrait of former Chief Minister Punjab Shehbaz Sharif at the facility.
During the hearing, the top judge was apprised by Dr Saeed that he was drawing Rs 1.2 million salary from PKLI while his wife received Rs 0.8 million.
The Chief Justice had also taken notice of hefty salaries being paid to other doctors at Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute.
The CJP said that it has come to the court’s attention that doctors were being hired at the Institute for salaries as high as Rs1.5 million per month.
The top judge highlighted that doctors at KPLI were receiving a salary of Rs1.2 million while on the other hand, the ones working at a government hospital get Rs0.2 million.
