SAHIWAL: The Society of Allied Health Professionals (SAHP), Pakistan, has demanded immediate renewal of employment contract and monthly salary of 467 allied health professionals working as technologists in as many as 40 district and tehsil level public sector health facilities in Punjab.

According to the SAHP, the provincial Department of Primary and Secondary Healthcare (DPSHC) not only failed to renew the employment contracts of these professionals since

August 2019, but 70 percent of them had also not received their monthly salary for the last eight months.

The society made the demand through a letter written to Punjab chief minister, health minister and chief secretary.

It says these technologists are working along with doctors, nurses and other paramedical staff at the district and tehsil level public health facilities during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak and are vital part of the fight against the virus.

SAHP chairman Umair Ahmed regretted that though the technologists were among the front line soldiers against the province’s ongoing war against Covid-19, the department failed to address their genuine issue despite their repeated demand.

The department had selected more than 500 allied health professionals/technologists in 13 different categories during August 2017, including more than 300 women.

They were appointed in BS-17 at 25 district and 15 tehsil headquarters hospitals across the province as as nutritionists, physiotherapist, radiation therapists, operation theatre technologists, dental technologists, speech and language therapists, optometrists, orthopedists etc.

At that time, they were awarded a two-year employment contract that was to end in August, 2019, but was liable to be extend for another two years.

Sources said it was also promised that the services of these professionals would also be regularised.

SAHP Khushab president Abdul Basit Hashmi told Dawn that after expiry of their contracts, the department neither sacked them, nor extend their contracts for another term.

He said the technologists made a collectively demand renewal of their contacts but to no avail.

To get what they consider their “right”, around 110 technologists filed a writ petition (48351/2019) through their counsel Malik Saleem Iqbal Awan at the Lahore High Court against DPSHC and the Punjab government seeking extension of their contracts and then regularisation of their services.

On September 4, 2019, LHC judge Justice Sajid Karim decided the case in favor of the petitioners and disposed off the petition on assurance of an assistant advocate general on behalf of the department that “the summery for the extension in the contract of the petitioners has been approved by the CM, Punjab”.

Later, the services of all the 110 petitioners were extended for another six-month term till February 2020 and all of them had been getting salaries till February 2020.

On November 27, 2019, Justice Jawad-ul-Hasan of the LHC, while deciding another writ petition (47233), filed by a group of 226 technologists through the same counsel, ordered the department to immediately release their salaries.

Mr Basit said now there were two groups of technologists, “one comprises 110 who received salary till February 2020 and the other of 350 technologists who received salary till August 2019 under two different court orders, but members of none of them have been terminated from the service by the DPSHC till date”.

Muhammad Bilal, another SAHP activist from Narowal said the technologists in various categories were working as “front line” health care workers against coronavirus, but the department had not been paying their salaries.

Umair Ahmed, demanded the chief minister should personally look into the issue and order immediate renewal of the technologists employment contracts for the current year and release of their pending salaries.

Health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid did not respond to the repeatedly phone calls made by this scribe.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2020