Parked in the open: Rusting away under sun and rain

20 Suzuki pickups acquired for Lady Health Supervisors gathering dust and rain since two years.

RAWALPINDI:

As many as 20 Suzuki pickups have been gathering dust in the compound of Directorate of Public Health for over two years. These vehicles were acquired for Lady Health Supervisors for family health planning by the federal government, official sources said.

The vans, which were provided in early 2009, are parked in an open area of the health office on Khyaban-e-Sir Syed, Rawalpindi. A visit to the office of public health revealed that many vans are without their tyres and spare parts. The vans are parked in the open, braving sun and rain. They haven’t even been used yet, and are already rusting. The market value of each of the vehicle at present is more than Rs500,000.

“The supervisors cannot drive the vehicles and there are no drivers. The vehicles are parked in the open and their spare parts are being stolen by the office staff,” said a lady health worker. She added there are many supervisors in the office of the district coordinator for family planning, but the absence of drivers has rendered the vehicles useless.

According to the information gathered from the office, there are 1,745 LHWs in Rawalpindi. The office needs 80 supervisors to supervise them, as each supervisor is supposed to overlook the work 20 to 25 lady health workers. The supervisor has to regularly visit far-flung areas to monitor the progress of lady health workers but cannot because of the absence of drivers, according to official sources.

When contacted, Dr Javaid Iqbal, District Coordinator Family Planning, said the vans were usable but were not being utilised in the absence of drivers.

Iqbal said the low salary (Rs7,000) coupled with no incentives was the primary reason nobody was willing to work as a driver with them. Secondly, Dr Iqbal added, under the rules a driver was hired on the availability of supervisors. In case a lady health supervisor quits her job, the driver is also released from the contract and most of the supervisors do not stick around for long as they also get Rs7,000 per month.

In response to a question about the future of these vans, the district coordinator said, every month the higher authorities were updated about the numbers of vans and the strength of the available drivers and it was up to them to decide.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2011.