Deadline issued: Health dept to reinstate 24 MNCH employees

PHC issues 48-hour time limit to restore services of social mobilisers.

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday directed the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Directorate of Health Services to comply with its previous order and reinstate 24 social mobilisers of the Maternal Newborn and Children Health (MNCH) project within 48 hours.

The order was issued to the health secretary, health director general and MNCH provincial coordinator by Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Musarrat Hilali as the bench heard employee Irfan Jamal’s contempt of court petition.

Jamal informed the court the provincial government removed mobilisers from service without giving a proper reason except lack of funds to pay their salaries. Later, the employees approached the PHC which accepted their writ petition on April 12, 2014 and directed the government to reinstate them.

Subsequently, the provincial health department approached the Supreme Court to challenge the PHC verdict. On November 19, 2014, the division bench of SC justices Jawad S Khwaja and Sarmad Jalal Osmany dismissed the petition and upheld the high court’s decision.

Irfan said despite orders from both courts, the provincial government has yet to reinstate the employees, adding it amounted to contempt of court.

The PHC division bench directed the health department and provincial coordinator of the MNCH to issue reinstatement orders within 48 hours.  The next hearing of the case will be held on Thursday.

On April 12, Justice Waqar Seth and Justice Muhammad Daud Khan reinstated 24 project employees of the K-P Maternal Newborn and Child Health project, with the provision of all facilities and pending salaries, from the day they were removed.

Abdul Latif Afridi, Ijaz Anwer and Muhammad Taif Khan, counsels for petitioners Irfan Jamal and others, told the court that the employees were appointed as social mobilisers in 2009. They added senior officials suspended these employees from their posts without prior notice or proper reasons.

The counsels said when the employees were removed in 2011; the only reason cited was lack of funds to pay their salaries.

The counsels of the petitioners said their clients were removed due to lack of funds for salaries, but other senior officials will continue with the project till its completion in 2015.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 11^th, 2015.