HYDERABAD: A number of Lady Health Workers (LHWs), polio vaccinators and office-bearers of the Pakistan Nursing Association suffered injuries on Thursday when police used batons to break up their protest at the bypass on Thursday.

They staged a sit-in on the road leading to Superhighway for around five hours (10am to 3pm), pressing the government to accept their charter of demands.

They shouted vociferous slogans against the provincial coordinator of the National Programme for Family Planning and Primary Health Care (also known as the Lady Health Workers Programme launched in 1994), Dr Roshan Bhatti, and Hyderabad field programme officer Dr Aftab Sariwal, and demanded of the government to remove them immediately.

They also appealed to the government to issue order of regularisation of their positions, pay allowances for fuel and maintenance of vehicles and 10-month salaries of 200 LHWs across Sindh. A number of LHWs from various districts participated in the demonstration.

Office-bearers of the Pakistan Nursing Association Hyderabad, Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) Sindh, Vaccination Welfare Association Sindh and activists of the Pakistan Human Rights Forum also took part in the protest and condemned the baton charge of LHWs and polio vaccinators, while expressing solidarity with them.

Leading the protest, All Pakistan Lady Health Worker Employees Association Sindh general secretary Shahnaz Ranjhani, Hyderabad president Rukhsana Mughal and general secretary Raheela Shaikh told Dawn that they were peacefully holding the protest, but police used batons on them.

Rukhsana Mughal and LHW Talat Naz and polio workers, including Jamal Chandio and Mohammad Hassan, Pakistan Nursing Association Hyderabad president Gul Naz and treasurer Nasreen Jaffar were injured in baton charge.

Policemen in plainclothes used the batons and lady police appeared after the baton charge.

Shahnaz Ranjhani told Dawn that LHWs were sitting with their children and babies in such sweltering heat but the authorities concerned were forcing the protesting LHWs and others to go away instead of fulfilling their demands.

She blamed that Dr Roshan Bhatti and Dr Aftab Sariwal were involved in corruption and he demanded of LHWs to pay Rs20,000 each for regularisation of their jobs. She said that 200 LHWs had not been paid 10-month salaries across the province.

She said there were 24,000 LHWs in Sindh, 1400 supervisors, around 1,400 drivers and a couple of account supervisors and coordinators.

Raheela Shaikh said that in Hyderabad, there were 1,130 LHWs, 48 supervisors and 30 drivers and two account supervisors.

She said that allowances for fuel and vehicle maintenance had not been paid for the last four years, except for a six-month allowance of fuel from July to Dec 2013. She said that not a single penny of vehicle maintenance allowance was paid while it was fixed at Rs1,500 per month.

LHWs demanded of the government to regularise their posts, pay their outstanding salaries, allowances and remove the two accused officials.

The charged crowd of LHWs ended the protest and dispersed when Sindh Health Services Director General Dr Hafeez Memon reached there and assured them of resolving their issues and invited them to his office on Friday to hold dialogue.

Dr Roshan Bhatti was not available for comments.

A large number of vehicles were stuck in the traffic jam on the Hyderabad bypass for hours.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2014