KHYBER: Scores of transit polio team workers in Khyber tribal district held a protest demonstration in Jamrud on Monday against nonpayment of their salaries for over three months.

The protesting health workers, who gathered at Jamrud Press Club, were holding placards inscribed with their demands for release of their salaries. The protesters also chanted slogans against delay in payment of their remuneration. The protesting polio health workers said on the occasion that they were not paid their wages since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic as no polio vaccination was conducted in any part of the country since then.

They said that all the transit points where they administered polio drops to children under the age of five had also been closed since early March. They said that they had been rendered jobless with no clear reply from the officials of the provincial health department and World Health Organisation (WHO).

The protesters said that WHO would pay them daily wages under a contract after the culmination of every polio vaccination campaign. “We have approached both the officials of health department and the WHO representatives for the resumption of our job and payment of wages but have so far not received any reply from them,” the protesting health workers said.

They said that the abrupt stoppage of their wages due to suspension of polio vaccination confronted most of them with acute financial problems as it was the only source of income for most of those young and educated health workers.

The health authorities in collaboration with WHO had established polio vaccination transit points at Torkhum border, Bhagiyarri and Takhta Bag checkpost on the main Peshawar-Torkham Highway, Ali Masjid, Tsasubi bordering point, Arhanga top and Bara with about 300 health workers performing their duties at those points.

The workers posted at those points were sent home and vaccination was stopped after outbreak of coronavirus pandemic in early March.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2020