ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has demanded that an inquiry should be conducted against the Islamabad Chief Commissioner (CC) Zulfiqar Haider for giving undue favours to the parents who refuse to administer polio vaccines to their children.
Five parliamentarians of the PPP, including Shazia Marri, Abdul Hakeem Baloch, Nawab Ali Wassan, Imran Zafar Laghari and Nauman Islam Sheikh, in their application to the Ministry of Interior (MoI) and the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (MoNHSRC), have demanded that an inquiry should be conducted against the commissioner for his undue support to the people who refuse to give polio drops to their children.
The letter, a copy of which is available with Pakistan Today, reads that the commissioner, instead of supporting his officers in eradicating polio, supported those who deny administering the vaccine to their children, and transferred the officers.
The parliamentarians demanded that an inquiry should be conducted against the CC and that strict action is taken against him so that no one dares to commit such an act again.
According to details, during a polio campaign on May 17, 2017, the Islamabad CC had shown the door to the Islamabad Assistant Commissioner (AC) Ali Asghar for vaccinating the Excise Director (ED) Mariam Mumtaz’s child — against the wishes of the family.
The AC landed in trouble after the police personnel administered polio drops to the director’s daughter despite the refusal of her husband.
The ED expressed anger when her child was vaccinated against her husband’s wish.
She conveyed her displeasure to the CC who gave just an hour to the AC for an explanation.
In a written response to the chief commissioner’s concern, the junior commissioner stated that he was willing to apologise to the female officer despite not being at fault.
However, despite his readiness to apologise from Mumtaz, the chief commissioner took a prompt action and surrendered his services to the Establishment Division (ED).
The copy of the letter was sent to the secretary to the prime minister, UNICEF secretary, WHO secretary and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation representatives in Pakistan.
