SWABI: The officials of district administration have convinced the elders of Naranji union council to administer anti-polio vaccine to children in the area, according to sources.

Sources said that the residents of the area had decided unanimously that they would not administer anti-polio drops to their children. They had told the vaccinators to stay away from the area.

However, District Police Officer Sajjad Khan, Deputy Superintendent of Police Zain Khan Jadoon and health officials held talks with the elders and convinced them to administer vaccine to children in the area.

“It is a great victory and we laud the role of the elders, who agreed to immunise their children against polio,” said a police official.

Dr Yaqub, the district in-charge of Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), said that 16 union councils in the district were declared dangerous for polio vaccinators and Naranji was one of them.

An official said that so far three policemen and two vaccinators were killed in the district by suspected militants.

“According to an estimate 4,000 children in Naranji union council need immunisation,” said Dr Yaqub. He said that they wanted to work day and night to accomplish the task. The role of health workers was critical in that regard, he added.

To a query, Dr Yaqub said that refusal cases were reported in some other areas but they succeeded to handle the same tactfully.

The officials of district administration helped them, he added.

Another official said that the people of the area were under the influence of some extremist groups, who opposed anti-polio campaign and labelled it a conspiracy against Islam.

Meanwhile, police have arrested 11 proclaimed offenders and recovered four Kalashnikovs, eight pistols, three guns and about 300 rounds from their possession.

The arrested persons were wanted by police in various cases. “The crackdown against outlaws and suspects would continue across the district,” said a police official.

Meanwhile, Mutasim Billah, the director of social welfare, special education and women empowerment department, has suspended all the teachers and other staffers of Blind Primary School in the district.

Sources said that the director was informed that the teachers did not perform their duty properly. He was told that they usually remained absent from duty.

They said that there were 20 students and 17 staff members, including male and female, in the sole educational institution for blinds in the district.

The director paid a surprise visit to the school and found that 10 staffers were absent and only seven were present.

“The seven staffers, present in the school, were busy in gossip in the veranda and none of them was attending a class,” sources said, adding that the director suspended all the staffers during the visit.

Sources said that out of 20 students only 10 were present in the school during the visit of the director.

Sher Nabi, district president of Blind Association, told this correspondent that the total number of students was more than 20 and only 16 students were present when the director visited the school.

The staff of the school consisted of three workers, two watchmen, one each attendant and cook and seven teachers, Mr Nabi said.