The Expended Program of Immunization (EPI) staff in Karak district on Friday demanded payment of their salaries that had been unpaid to them since one and a half year.
Addressing a press conference, EPI members said that 169 EPI technicians were recruited by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department under the GAVE project about seven years ago during the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) government. They said the government had made an agreement in PC-I that GAVE employees would be made permanent after four years. The EPI technicians informed that despite nonpayment of their salaries since one and a half year, they were performing their duties and participating in health campaigns, including Polio and Measles programmes, as the government had not given any termination letters to them.
The technicians said that the government intended to recruit fresh candidates over the vacant posts of EPI, instead of making their services regular, adding that the EPI technicians have the right on the vacant posts. They said that they would go on hunger strike or do self immolation in front of the Parliament house if their issues were not addressed. The Peshawar High Court will also be approached if the issues are not resolved, the technicians added.
