MINGORA/GHALANAI: Hundreds of Class IV employees of the health department on Tuesday staged a protest in the Saidu Teaching Hospital, Mingora, against the government’s failure to fulfil its promise of giving them health professional allowance.

Midwives, sweepers, watchmen, and technical and clerical staff members boycotted duty across the Malakand division and staged the protest accusing finance minister Muzaffar Said of falsely promising them that allowance’s payment.

“The health minister had assured us three times of the payment of health professional allowance but the assurance turned to be false to our misery,” said Malakand division paramedical association president Sherzada Babo.

He said the health department’s Class IV employees served not only patients and their attendants but also other medical staff in hospitals but the government was not serious about the resolution of their issues.

“The government is paying health professional allowance to doctors, paramedics and nursing staff but the low-grade employees of the department are being denied the allowance in an act of utter discrimination,” said provincial president of the paramedical association Ibne Amin.

Protester Noor Hussain Khadim regretted that the government had increased the salary of doctors and paid them health professional allowance but ignored Class-IV employees of the department.

District development advisory committee chairman and MPA Fazal Hakim Khan showed up and assured protesters of the early resolution of their grievances.

“I will raise the issue on the floor of the house and will also take it up with the finance minister for early resolution,” he said.

In Ghalanai, scores of lady health workers, lady health visitors and Expanded Programme on Immunisation workers on Tuesday staged a protest against the non-payment of salary for eight months.

The protesters gathered outside the Mohmand Press Club and blocked the Peshawar-Bajaur Road.

Paramedical association president Khursheed Khan, vice president Farman Khan and general secretary Sher Gul said the LHWs, LHVs and EPI workers appointed in 2004 hadn’t received salary for the last eight months.

He insisted that the authorities had threatened to sack them if polio case was reported in the region.

The protesters demanded that their services be regularised without delay. They dispersed after the health officials assured them of resolution of their grievances.

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2018