Over 100 dengue workers protest

Threaten they will boycott ongoing anti-dengue drive

LAHORE: Over a 100 daily wagers, hired by the district government for the anti-dengue drive, carried out a protest against the non-payment of salaries and the sacking of trained workers. The demonstration entered its sixth consecutive day outside the General Health Director’s office on Monday.

The men and women held a sit in and demanded their jobs be made permanent, while also asking for conveyance and risk allowance.

Reinstate the trained dengue workers and make their jobs permanent. Do not deny us our livelihood, the workers demanded.

A team of two female workers visits approximately 40 to 60 houses every day to monitor dengue larvae. For this purpose, they have to travel on their own expense. The government should provide us with a conveyance allowance, the protesters cried.

The government has not given us the confirmation for our jobs which is a clear violation of their contract, said dengue worker Shahjehan Asmat.

“When we were hired, we were assured that this would eventually lead to a permanent position. Instead, we have been cheated by the government who has shown us to the door after eight years of service,” she lamented.



Sacking dengue workers is a form of injustice; we will all boycott the ongoing anti-dengue drive, she added.

Women have been forced to take to the street because our supervisors have turned a blind eye to our problems and issues, said Afshan Khan, another dengue worker.

Instead of clearing our dues, the government has cancelled our contracts without paying us our wages, she claimed.

Khan, who works to support her family, also stated that it was impossible to be appointed without a confirmation letter.

In response to the protest, a health department official claimed that the allegations made by the workers were baseless. The government has already devised a strategy to give them confirmations; a process which will be completed shortly, he said.

The protesters chanted slogans against the health executive district officer, the health deputy district officer and other senior health department officials. They also carried banners and placards bearing anti-government slogans.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 24^th, 2018.