KARACHI – The Sindh government has announced that the anti-polio drive in the province would be launched from February 2, but confusion still persists over lady health workers’ (LHW) participation in the drive after the Sindh chapter of the workers’ association refused to return to work till their salary dues were not cleared.
The anti-polio drive was scheduled to start on January 31, but was postponed after LHWs went on strike, saying that the government had not given them salaries for four months and they will not resume duties until their service is made permanent and their outstanding dues cleared.
On Monday, a delegation of the All Pakistan Lady Health Workers Employees Association (APLHWEA), led by its central chairperson Bushra Arain, met Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Qaim Ali Shah at the Chief Minister’s House to hand him their charter of demands.
A press release issued by the Chief Minister’s House said that the chief minister will visit Islamabad today (Tuesday) and take up the issue of the lady health workers with the federal government. “When the Sindh government will receive its share from the NFC award, a certain amount will be allocated for the workers,” the statement quoted the chief minister as saying.
Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) MPA Nusrat Sehar Abbasi told Pakistan Today that the LHWs had accepted a request from the CM to participate in the drive – albeit on his assurance that their demands will be taken up by him at the Federal level. On the other hand, a meeting in Hyderabad of the APLHWEA’s Sindh chapter resolved that LHWs will not take part in the anti-polio campaign until their demands are met.
The Sindh chapter, led by Secretary-General Sehar Bano Mallah, dissociated from the decision of the association’s central body on the grounds that their dues are likely to remain unpaid for the next one-and-a-half months. Sindh Health Secretary Hashim Raza Zaidi, meanwhile, accused the LHWs of blackmailing the government at a time when preparations for the polio drive are in full swing. The APLHWEA’s Sindh chapter asserted, however, that they were simply demanding their right; they simply wanted their outstanding dues of four months to be cleared, and salary payments to be made regular.
Amid the controversy, Provincial Health Minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed claimed that the government would take lady health workers into confidence and the anti-polio drive would run normally. Health Secretary Zaidi also said that all issues had been resolved, and the campaign will run as scheduled from February 2. MPA Abbasi, meanwhile, told Pakistan Today that at the LHWs sit-in recently, Zaidi had said that the matter pertained to the Federal government.
The Federal government, in turn, informed Abbasi and other concerned legislators that post-18th Amendment, the matter was a provincial one. It is worth mentioning here that there are 25,000 LHWs in Sindh, posted in every union council of the province. Apart from specialised drives, such as against polio and measles, they are also responsible for door-to-door routine vaccination against five other diseases.
Till some time ago, LHWs were employed at a monthly salary of Rs 3,000 but this practice had to be revised about five months ago after the Supreme Court ordered their salaries to be increased to Rs 7,000. With the government not paying their dues, LHWs have threatened that not only will they initiate a long march but also resort to self-immolation.
