Sindh govt revokes Covid-19 health risk allowance

The Sindh government announced on Friday that it would no longer be issuing the coronavirus health risk allowance to health workers, much to the chagrin of nurses who have denounced the decision.

According to a notification issued by the provincial treasury department, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has approved the suspension of the allowance, effective from October 1, 2020.

On the other hand, the Sindh Young Nurses Association (SYNA) has demanded that the provision of the allowance be continued to nurses working in Covid-19 wards.

Criticising the Sindh government’s decision, SYNA members have further lamented that nurses have been deprived of the allowance and claimed that medical superintendents and clerks at different hospitals colluded to share the funds approved for nurses on account of the health risk allowance.

Plus, they added, none of health workers deputed at isolation centres, including doctors, nurses and paramedics, had received the allowance - equal to 50 per cent of their basic salary - for the past seven months.

Saying that the allowance was to be issued from March, 2020, they accused hospital administrations of employing delaying tactics in connection with the issuance of funds, and clerks at healthcare facility of embezzling funds approved on account of the allowance     

They complained that nurses, including those employed to work in isolation centres and Covid-19 healthcare facilities on the basis of contracts, hadn’t received any allowance yet.

The SYNA members have demanded of the Sindh government to address the issue and have warned of staging a protest and approaching the Federal Investigation Agency and National Accountability Bureau otherwise.

In June, the Sindh government had introduced the allowance, intending to provide financial relief to health workers infected with the coronavirus while doing their duties.