KARACHI – Members of the All-Pakistan National Lady Health Worker (LHW) Employees Association, which is part of the women’s wing of the Pakistan Paramedical Staff Association, protested on Saturday outside the Karachi Press Club against delays in the issuance of salaries and petrol allowance.
The association’s provincial president, Khairunnisa Ehsan, demanded that the workers’ salaries be released immediately. “If the government has money to cover non-essential expenses, why does it not have funds to pay poor workers in the national programme,” she asked. “LHWs form the backbone of the Health Department.
How will the department function if the backbone is broken?”
She appealed to President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, Federal Minister Shahabuddin, and Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammed Chaudhry to take notice of the matter. “We were also promised permanent positions, but nothing has been done about it yet,” Ehsan said. “If our demands are not met soon, we will continue to protest, and will perhaps even boycott all programmes of the Health Department, especially the anti-polio drive.”
Later, Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister on Information, Sharmila Farooqui met the protesters and assured them that their demands would be met.
