LHWs to boycott upcoming anti-polio campaign

SHANGLA: Lady health workers and lady health supervisor of Shangla district have said that they would boycott from the upcoming anti-polio vaccination drive commencing from March 29 if their demands were not accepted which promised during a sit-in in Islamabad a month ago.
The office bearers of Shangla chapter lady Health Workers association, told media persons on Friday that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was using delaying tactics and had failed in fulfilling their promises.
Lady Health Supervisor, Ruqia from Alpuri, Razia LHS, Bisham, Azeema Puran, Noreen from Chakesar, Fazilat from Lilonai and Yasmin from Shahpur, said the lady health worker was a woman with kids serving her entire community for years on just 5-7 basic pay scale and kept deprived all the bonuses and other facilities.
“We have staged a sit-in for several days at D chowk in Islamabad and also faced attacks of the Islamabad police and later the government delegation promised in written by accepting our demands but since then KP government did not move to implement the promises,” LHS Ruqia, said.
She said on the directives of their provincial leadership of the national program association, they would boycott from the upcoming anti-polio vaccination campaign if their demands were not accepted in next three days.
Shahid Ahmed, the LHWs association district president, said salaries of the integrated project’s LHWs had been pending for the last eight months due to which LHWs and other supportive staff of LHSs faced financial constraints.
He said lady health workers had been playing a vital role as front line worker in the battle covid-19 pandemic without being facilitated and provision with stipends but today they were compel on holding protests for demanding their rights, salaries and service structure.
Fazilat from Lilonai, said that their provincial leadership had gone to the provincial secretariat in Peshawar to meet the government representatives and inquire about the progress of their demands but returned disappointed as government representatives did not bother to meet the most marginalized class of government sector employees.
The Shangla LHWs said that after consultation with the provincial leadership they would not take part in the upcoming anti-polio campaign commencing from March 29 unless their demands were not accepted.