Govt depts fail to meet dengue activity targets
PHOTO: REUTERS
Most of the provincial government departments responsible for controlling the spread of dengue fever in Punjab have failed to meet their targets.
Punjab Chief Secretary (CS) Jawwad Rafique Malik held a meeting to review the control and prevention of dengue in the province. During the meeting, Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department Secretary Usman Younis presented a detailed briefing on the statistics and performance of the provincial government’s departments and institutions concerned.
As per the briefing given to the CS, only three departments could achieve 100 per cent of the targets given to them. In addition to this, the performance of six departments, including the environment department and Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA), had been declared satisfactory, while the performance of seven departments was termed as very poor. The performance of 11 departments was declared as ‘mediocre’.
During the briefing, the chief secretary expressed his displeasure over the performance and ordered issuance of show-cause notices to the departments and institutions concerned. However, the senior member of the Board of Revenue and some other officers suggested warnings to the departments.
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As per details available with The Express Tribune, the worst performing departments included the agriculture marketing department, municipal committees, Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC), Rawalpindi Development Authority, food department, labour department and agriculture department.
Sources said the performance was tested on the basis of inactive field staff of the departments. The inactivity was gauged by the usage statistics of a software application developed by the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) in collaboration with the health department for the prevention of dengue.
The field staff had been registered with their android phones, tabs and other devices in the software. The performance was measured on the basis of the inactivity of these devices and data being uploaded on the software’s dashboard, including data pertaining to dengue checking and sampling. The departments with ‘high inactivity’ were deemed poor in performance, while those with ‘high activity’ were considered better.
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In the dormant users graph displayed during the briefing, the departments were divided into three categories in terms of performance. Departments with an inactivity rate of less than 30% were placed in the green category, while those with a rate of 30% to 69% were placed in the amber or middle category, and departments with an inactivity rate of 70% and above in the red category.
The CS strongly directed the departments to improve their performance. Of the departments, the performance of 12 had been deteriorating continuously for several weeks, the sources further said.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 14th, 2020.