Polio workers and area in-charges, under the banner of the Polio Action Committee, on Monday staged a protest demonstration outside the Karachi Press Club against what they called ‘political appointments’ in a UNICEF-funded project.
The protesters were carrying banners and placards inscribed with different slogans. They demanded the removal of a Dr Shoukat Chandio from his post.
Polio Action Committee President Baqir Hussain, while talking to the media, said that the future of 4,000 polio workers and area in-charges is at stake. These workers had been working in the UNICEF project for the last 15 years on a contract basis. However, the project administration has now started to recruit new members, whereas the people who had been associated with the project for a long time are now being ignored.
He said that employees, who had given their entire lives to the project, want justice. He said that the new recruitments are being made in Baldia Town under political influence.
He demanded that the Sindh provincial health minister step in and restore the polio workers and area in-charges, and stop political appointments in the project.