KOHAT: Employees of the Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health (MNCH) programme have regretted that their services are not being regularised though a bill in this regard has been passed in the provincial assembly in February 2018.

Talking to mediapersons here on Saturday, the workers said that the government had launched 60 projects in the health sector and confirmed the services of 5,400 employees of 59 programmes through a notification.

However, the notification of only MNCH programme was held back and they were being asked again and again to submit their certificates and degrees for scrutiny which had been done three times so far.

The workers added that despite lapse of seven months their fate hanged in the balance.

They said that the functioning of rural health centres where they were employed was also affected because of the uncertainty.

He said that the affected employees included class-IV lady health visitors and doctors.

They appealed to the caretaker chief minister, secretary health and chief justice of the Supreme Court to take notice of the injustice being done to them.

They warned that if their case was not decided before Eidul Azha they would be forced to launch agitation.

Talking to this scribe, local paramedics association’s president Rashid Bokahri claimed that the department was not confirming the workers because the project was launched by the last ANP government.

GENERATORS’ PRICES UP: The prices of generators have recorded exorbitant increase of Rs4,000 to Rs8,000 in Kohat due to sealing of Parachinar and other Afghan borders and excessive power outages.

A wholesale dealer, Shams, told this correspondent that the generator earlier available for Rs35,000 now cost Rs40,000 as the shopkeepers in Karkhano market were disposing of old stock. Similarly, the prices of both window and split air-conditioners have surged by around Rs5,000.

Mr Shams said that the carriers charged Rs1,000 per generator for transportation and in case they were caught by the customs they charged between Rs5,000 and Rs10,000 per piece.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2018