LARKANA: Two separate protest demonstrations were held here on Wednesday for continuation of health risk allowance.
The first protest was by the paramedical staff of Chandka Medical College Hospital (CMCH) which was also joined by staff nurses and is continuing for the past third day at Civil Hospital Block after boycotting their government duties for which they are paid out of taxpayers money and the second by Lady Health Workers (LHWs) working under District Health Office which was held at Jinnah Bagh.
CMCH protesters including Shahi Khan Jagiran, Munwar Mangi and others who alleged that risk allowance was allowed during coronavirus to the medics and paramedics but it has suddenly been withdrawn which is highhandedness. They said that the emergency services of paramedics are still continuing in the shape of medical camps for the flood and rain affected people and coronavirus wards are still functional across Sindh where they are always deployed to perform their government duties.
On the other hand, LHWs’ Reshma Langah, Zuhra Solangi, Benazir Channa, Salma Tunio and others claimed that from polio drops administration to vaccination campaigns they are always deployed to perform their legal and moral duties and they carryout these duties without any hindrance in hot or sizzling cold weather.
They said closing suddenly risk allowance has created lot of problems for them despite the fact that they are performing their duties at various medical camps established for treatment of flood affected. They said that massive price hike has already added to their miseries as LHWs are the backbone of health department and low paid employees hence their issues have been multiplied which have been ignored by the provincial health department. Both the protesters demanded restoration of risk allowance or else warned to continue their protests.
Meanwhile, poverty-stricken patients of CMCH OPD suffered very seriously as they reached here from far-flung and remote areas of various districts after paying hire to get specialized medical treatment for various ailments after proper diagnostics but they returned homes empty handed and some of them turned to private clinics.
Poor patients Irshad Khatoon, Zulekha, Rani, Amna, Inayatan, Noshad, Suhrab Machi, Gulzar Shaikh and others said that they came from different districts to get medical treatment but nobody is examining them because of so called paramedics protest.
They said that protesters have no fear of their creator as they have reached here to save our precious lives. They demanded of the Chief Justices of Pakistan and Sindh to take immediate notice of the perturbing issues, punish the protesters so that nobody should dare in future to boycott their government duties specifically where health providers are involved.