HYDERABAD: Lady health workers (LHWs) on Monday staged a massive protest sit-in here and in Jacobabad for outstanding salaries and other allowances and facilities promised to them.

They also called for removal of the provincial coordinator (PC) of the National Programme for Family Planning and Primary Healthcare, Dr Jai Ram, forthwith.

They demanded payment of three-month salaries, arrears of the increased salaries, upgraded scale-wise salaries, fuel allowance to lady health supervisors (LHS), gratuity to retiring LHWs and issuance of the remaining regular orders to their colleagues.

The protesters were chanting slogans against the Sindh government and the PC at the sit-in held under the banner of the All Pakistan Lady Health Worker Employees Association (APLHWEA) outside the local press club for a couple of hours. Then they moved to the SP chowk and held a protest there for one hour. Association’s Sindh chapter president Halima Leghari and general secretary Shama Gulani led them.

Speaking to reporters, Halima Leghari appealed to the Sindh government to honour all the demands of the workers.

She said Dr Jai Ram should be removed as he was doing nothing for resolving the problems being faced by LHWs.

She said that despite the order of the Supreme Court for regularisation of LHWs, LHS and others on July 1, 2012, staff could not be paid arrears of raised salaries as LHWs were being paid Rs7,000 as monthly salary and their salaries had not been increased so far.

She said that as per the revised pay-scale, an LHW be paid Rs13,200; LHS Rs15,400 and driver Rs12,200.

There are 24,000 staff including 22,576 LHWs, 770 LHS, 668 drivers and 34 account supervisors and 64 officers of provincial monitoring unit throughout Sindh.

They called off the protest when Dr Jai Ram and other officials reached the spot and assured LHWs that their salaries would be paid within eight days and LHW leaders were invited to PC office for more dialogues.

In Jacobabad, according to reports, lady health workers staged a march from the DC chowk to the local press club. After passing through different roads, they reached in front of the press club where they held sit-in while raising slogans, blocking the DC road for some time.

Addressing the protseters, lady health workers provincial general secretary Shahnaz Ranjhani, district president Najma Khoso, Abida Jamali, Bilqees Unnar, Bashira, Faiz Bibi, Sakina Domki, Seema Khawaja and others said health workers were facing problems due to non-payment of salaries for the past three months.

It was due to unpaid salaries that they failed to buy clothes for their children and other family members for celebrating Eid.

Despite that they had been performing their duties in sweltering heat of summer, they had been deprived of their salaries. They were running home affairs on loan, they said.

They demanded of the higher authorities concerned to take notice of their strong protest as well as the problems being faced by them and release three-month outstanding salaries as early as possible so that they could make preparations for Eid.

They threatened to continue the protest if their salaries were not released immediately.

Published in Dawn, July 7th, 2015

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