Discontent of LHWs

Is it impossible to devise an effective solution that would spell an end to the trials and tribulations of lady health workers in Punjab? Perhaps. Forty-eight hours have passed since the lady health workers began their sit-in at Lahore’s Charing Cross and, apart from causing hours of inconvenience and discomfort to motorists and commuters, negotiations between provincial government officials and LHW representatives have yielded little or no headway. That is only to be expected because lady health workers were never really given what they were promised some years ago by the Punjab administration. And both on Monday and Tuesday there were given the same verbal assurances without solid guarantees. Their demands for regularisation, wage arrears and recognition of services are longstanding enough and by now familiar — since it affects a whole gamut of services in the country and province.

For most lady health workers in the province, the crunch question remains their withheld salaries and how many more days and weeks would the authorities finally take to release their dues. Like their counterparts in Sindh last year, Punjab’s lady health workers have not been paid for the last five months. The best option for Punjab authorities is to unfreeze their salaries immediately and begin paying them. It would seem unfair to expect LHWs to wait another 15 days for the release of salaries.

The latest protest is illustrative of the growing desperation of lady health workers who believe their troubles cannot be resolved without taking any calculated risks. Any improvement in their service structure would help enormously. So too would an upward revision in their pay scale. Their last salary increment came in 2012. If we want to improve the provincial healthcare systlem and ensure its success, we would just have to invest sufficiently and wisely in the welfare of lady health workers.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28^th, 2018.

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