QUETTA: A large number of nurses belonging to government hospitals staged a demonstration outside the press club here on Saturday to press the government for the acceptance of their demands for increase in health profession allowances and improvement in their service structure.

Carrying banners and placards inscribed with their demands, the protesting nurses first marched on some roads and finally gathered outside the press club. They raised slogans in favour of their demands.

Later speaking at a press conference, Nurses Action Committee chairperson Mena Luther said that nurses had been demanding health professional allowance since 2011.

She said despite acceptance of the demand the government had sofarnotissued anofhcialorderinthisregard.

She said doctors and pharmacists received health profession allowance in Balochistan, but nurses were deprived of this f acility. In Punjab, she added, nurses also received this allowance.

Ms Luther said there was no service structure for nurses in Balochistan, while in Punjab nurses were being promoted to Grade 17 and 18 af ter the completion of 20 years service.

She said in Balochistan nurses who had even completed 27 years of service were still working in Grade 16.

She demanded that Balocistan`s nurses who have completed 30 to 32 years of service should be promoted to Grade 18 and 19 according to their seniority.

Ms Luther said the Nurses Action Committee would not accept the recommendations of the service structure committee in which it was not given representation.

She demanded that a colony should be constructed for married nurses and monthly scholarship of student nurses should be increased up to Rs20,000 which at present is Rs10,000. She also demanded risk allowance for the nurses working in Quetta and other parts of the province.