Chitral LHWs protest for service structure, pay raise

CHITRAL: The Lady Health Workers (LHWs) staged a protest demonstration for acceptance of their demands here on Monday.

Carrying placards and chanting slogans, the LHWs gathered outside the Chitral Press Club. Some of the protesting health workers were accompanied by their children. Speaking on the occasion, Lady Health Workers Association Chitral President Asia Bibi, Senior Vice-President Sadia Manzoor and others asked the government to give them pay raise and introduce service structure for them. They argued that the LHWs were recruited in five scale and remained in the same for till retirement due to the absence of the service structure. They demanded health insurance and other facilities in the light of the judgment of the Supreme Court. The protesting LHWs maintained that successive governments made pledges with them, but did not bother to honour them.

The argued that the LHWs performed duty under unfavourable circumstances, but they were never compensated for the hard work and devotion. The protesters maintained that Chitral was polio-free for the last several years due to their hard work.