Hundreds of health project workers unpaid for six months

HARIPUR: Hundreds of lady health workers, lady health supervisors, and drivers hired under the Integrated Health Project of the provincial government in Hazara division were without salary for the last six months, the affected workers told journalists here on Monday.

They also threatened to stage a protest in the provincial capital and also boycott the polio and election duties.

The workers said that the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa launched the IHP during 2018 by hiring 3540 LHWs, 217 lady health supervisors and 189 drivers in 25 districts of the KP. In Haripur, 113 were hired under the programme while 33 were inducted in Abbottabad, 128 in Battagram, 38 in Kohistan and 171 LHWs in Mansehra.

The project’s focus was to reduce maternal and infant mortalities, and improve mother and child health by integrating MNCH, LHWs and nutrition programme, in order to avoid duplication of services.

Apart from their job description of screening malnourished children and referring the expecting mothers to skilled birth attendants and health facilities, the LHWs were also engaged in polio and election duties.

They stated that they had been without salaries for the past six months, and despite making repeated requests, the provincial office of the project has not released the funds for salaries. As a result, they find themselves in the worst economic conditions.

The workers said several of them were unable to pay the utility bills for their homes and the monthly tuition fees for their school-going children. They said that the bills for fuel and vehicle repairs were also outstanding for the drivers.