LAHORE: The employees of Maternal and Newborn Child Health Programme of Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department protested in front of civil secretariat for the regularisation, scale upgradation and salary increments but their demands were rejected by DG Health.
Staff members, including security guards, women and their children staged the demonstration in the morning while holding banners and chanting the demands.
Traffic remained congested because of the protest and the public had to face serious issues in commuting on the roads around Civil Secretariat.
A five-member team, including DG health, project director of the program and others held dialogue with the protestors but they could not find any solution to their demands.
A protester told this scribe that they had been working in MNCH on contractual basis for a long time but they were feeling insecure about their jobs considering the economic conditions of the country, which is why they want the department to regularise their employment.
Another female protester said, “There is a price hike in the country but our salaries have not been increased and it is very difficult for us to meet our basic needs. We demand that the government should increase our salaries.”
DG Health Dr Haroon Jahangir told this scribe that the staff working under this programme is contractual. “As this is not a regular project, therefore, the staff cannot be regularised on their respective posts. If they do not finish their protest they all will be terminated,” he said.
