LAHORE: Some activists of the Young Doctors Association on Thursday occupied office of the Services Hospital medical superintendent and refused to leave it till acceptance of their demand of provision of official residences to their colleagues.

Led by Dr Hamid Butt, over 60 young medics of the Services Hospital reportedly forced their entry into the office of MS Dr Umar Farooq Baloch at 12 noon and remained there till 8pm, according to some witnesses.

The administrative affairs and the healthcare services at the hospital remained suspended due to eight-hour `sit-in` of the doctors at the MS of fice.

Health Secretary Jawad Rafique condemned the occupation of theMS office. `This is totally unwarranted hooliganism and the government will not negotiate with them (young doctors)`, he told Dawn. Mr Jawad warned if the doctors tried to disrupt patient care they would be dealt with an iron hand.

`Get the official residences vacated from medical students and nurses and accommodate doctors, otherwise, we will not leave your office`, an eyewitness quoted Dr Butt as telling the MS.

He said the charged doctors entered the MS office when an administrative meeting was in progress. The intruders reportedly forced the meeting participants to leave the venue.

The administration brought the matter into health authorities` knowledge but nothing was done to resolve the issue.

`The YDA men entered my of ficeat 12noon and continued occupying it till night`, Dr Baloch told Dawn, adding they first accused the hospital admin of corruption and then demanded official accommodation for young doctors, including female medics.

It is humiliating attitude and the government functionaries should take strict notice of this `stupidity`, he said.

`They directed me to issue an executive order and accommodate their colleagues by displacing the female students of the Services Institute of Medical Sciences from their official residences`, he said, adding that the displacement of the students might have led to a major crisis as a many of them had come from other districts.

They also wanted the hostels vacated by the nurses to accommodate medics, he said. `The nurseswarned of strike when I tried to convince them for making room for the young doctors on the hostel premises`, Dr Baloach said.

The Services Hospital YDA chapter chairman Dr Basharat Gill defended the stance of his colleagues, saying both the MS and the SIMS principal had been ignoring the issue since long.

`Many of our female colleagues were forced to spend night either in their vehicles or at their relatives` homes in Lahore because of lack of accommodation`, he said.

Meanwhile, the YDA blocked major roads in various districts, including Lahore on Thursday to protest outsourcing of the public sector health facilities. In Lahore, the young doctors blocked the Feorozepur Road, Lahore Canal, The Mall and Jail Road for some hours.