More than 2,500 Ministry of Health employees continue to wonder if they will be able to continue their jobs following the devolution of their parent departments.
Sources told The Express Tribune that most of these employees were either hired on contracts or on were transferred on deputation and were recently told verbally by higher ups at the ministry that they had been sacked.
An affected employee said, “This is in clear violation of Ministry of Health devolution notification issued by the cabinet division that says no one will be laid off.”
The employee added that according to the notification all project assets along with the employees were to be transferred to the provinces. Their contracts also mention that their services will be terminated once their projects end; none of the projects, except malaria control programme, has been cancelled.
A group of affected employees have been protesting against the Ministry of Health in front of the Parliament and at the National Press Club for the past three days. They said they will approach the court if needed.
The affected projects of the ministry include Expanded Programme on Immunization, National TB Control Programme, National Programme for Prevention and Control of Blindness, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Programme, Lady Health Workers Programme, and Pakistan National Hepatitis Control Programme among others. The devolution of these programmes was referred to the planning commission, which has not taken any administrative control on these projects to date.
“After June 30 we do not know whether we are employed or unemployed as we did not receive any notification on our [status],” said a ministry employee while talking to The Express Tribune.
He said no devolution plan was formulated and none of the employees were given any direction or information about the projects -- how they will be referred to the provinces, what changes will take place, and how they will work with federal units.
“We have no clue about where to sit or what to work on; we don’t know if we will be paid; the government should have informed us about our new tasks before the devolution,” he said.
Majority of the employee are the sole breadwinners of their families and they are fearful of what will happen to them in case they are fired, he added.
Health secretary Nargis Sethi was not immediately available for a comment.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 13th, 2011.
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