MULTAN, Nov 12: The staff employed under the national programme for primary healthcare has not been getting their salaries regularly for the last one year.

At least 40,000 women were taken on as lady health workers (LHWs) and lady health supervisors (LHSs) in the province during the last Benazir government to extend primary healthcare and family planning services at the doorstep of targeted people. Their number, under the plan, was to be raised to 100,000 to cover as much population as possible.

But for the last one year, the LHWs and LHSs have not been paid their monthly salaries and TA/POL allowances regularly for reasons best known to the provincial health department authorities.

Currently, these health workers are being paid salaries of the last three months.

A number of LHWs and LHSs told this correspondent that despite repeated representations before Health authorities, the payment of salaries could not be streamlined. .

Instead, they said, the authorities concerned had threatened them with dire consequences when their attention was drawn towards the mismanagement on salaries front.

PML leader: The Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) will launch a campaign involving intelligentsia into a dialogue to pave way for the restoration of democracy in the country.

This was given out by PML-N central chief coordinator Ahsan Iqbal while speaking to Multan District Bar Association members on Monday.

He said the ‘unconstitutional’ military regimes had brought on more damage to the country than politicians. The country suffered geographical losses under the military rules while the political parties’ eras could only be blamed for mismanagement, he said.

In the Ayub period, the country’s water resources were compromised besides surrendering a vast tract of territory to Iran while Yahya’s rule caused the fall of Dhaka and Zia’s introduced Kalashnikov and drugs culture apart from losing tracts of Siachin.

Mr Iqbal described the present government’s decision to support America on the Afghanistan issue as a strategic ‘blunder’. He urged that ‘draconian laws’ of the NAB should be revoked.

He termed the arrest of Javed Hashmi an act of political victimization and a bid to stop national leadership from taking stands on vital issues.

The Punjab should have joined hands with Balochistan and the NWFP in campaign against US-led attacks on Afghanistan, he added.