LAHORE: The lady health workers (LHWs) ended their sit-in at Charing Cross after their service structure as well as that of lady health supervisors (LHSs) was notified on Friday after approval by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

According to the notification, 50pc of the LHSs have been promoted to BPS-10 from BPS-7, 35pc got BPS-12 while 15pc of them have been promoted to BPS-14. Fifty-five per cent of the lady health workers (LHWs) will remain in BPS-5 while 40pc have been promoted to BPS-7 and 5pc to BPS-9.

An announcement to this effect was made by Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department Secretary Ali Jan Khan at a news conference at 90 Shahra-i-Quaid-i-Azam, a few yards away from Charing Cross, where the LHWs had been holding a sit-in since Monday.

LHWs leader Rukhsana Anwar announced ending the sit-in at a news conference.

Ali Jan Khan made it clear that the decision to notify upgrade of the health workers had not been made under any pressure.

LHC seeks explanation from govt over sit-in on The Mall

“Protesters create problems for the citizen which is really condemnable. Now the department has right to take disciplinary action against those who will not join their duties,” he added.

He said Punjab became the first province to have approved schedule of new expenditure (SNE) for 50,000 LHWs. The qualification of the LHSs was BA and for LHWs it was middle level education.

Mr Khan said that during the last eight months, key achievements had been made for the welfare of the LHWs. The service of some 50,000 LHWs and LHSs were regularised while service rules were approved and notified in 2017.

He went on to say the salaries of the LHWs were now being issued from district accounts offices concerned without any interruption while pay of the LHSs and LHWs had been paid up to March 2018. Notification of Rs5,000 monthly allowance for LHSs had also been issued.

Mr Khan said the Punjab government had released Rs1.2bn as first installment for clearance of arrears which were purely the federal government’s liability. However, keeping in view the difficulties of workers, the Punjab government provided these funds from its provincial budget. These funds would reach their accounts in the month of April.

The secretary said the summary for the service structure of LHSs and LHWs was initiated in January 2018.

“It is amongst the most quick service structures for the posts sanctioned in August 2017. The service structure and release of fund was carried out in a routine process. The department is somewhat disappointed by the behavior of some of LHSs and LHWs during negotiations at Lahore,” said Mr Khan.

Meanwhile, the secretary directed all the chief executive officers of district health authorities to take LHSs and LHWs of their district on board through regular meetings and ensure their presence on jobs without fail.

“All absentees shall be reported to Integrated Reproductive Maternal Newborn, Child Health & Nutrition (IRMNCH) programme,” he said while asking all LHSs and LHWs to cooperate with the department in this regard.

Explanation: A Lahore High Court (LHC) full bench on Friday sought an explanation from the Punjab home department about prolonged sit-in by the lady health workers (LHWs) on The Mall where protest activities are not allowed.

A lawyer had filed a petition against the government’s failure to address the grievances of the protesting LHWs and to enforce a ban on the protests on The Mall.

Petitioner’s counsel Azhar Siddique argued that the sit-in by the LHWs had been causing a great problem to the citizens as The Mall was a main artery of the provincial capital. He said despite a policy of the provincial government the protests, rallies and sit-ins on the road had never been stopped. He pointed out that a suicide attack was also carried out on a protest on The Mall during the recent past, claiming lives of many police officers and common citizens; however, the government had failed to ensure implementation of its policy against the protests in letter and spirit.

The counsel argued the government was saddled with the responsibility to regulate and control processions, rallies and sit-ins on The Mall to avoid infringement of peaceful movement and trading activities of the citizens. He sought an order for the government to resolve the grievances of the protesting LHWs and to implement the ban on the protest activities on The Mall.

The bench, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, issued a notice to the home secretary seeking an explanation about the failure to implement the ban on the protests. Hearing was adjourned until April 2.

Meanwhile, a lawyer filed a petition in the high court with a prayer to designate Greater Iqbal Park for the holding protest activities.

Advocate Rana Ilmuddin Ghazi pleads in his petition that citizens face severe problems in daily life due to frequent protests held on main roads of the city. He says the government should be directed to declare the Greater Iqbal Park/Minar-i-Pakistan a designated place for protests like Hyde Park of London.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2018