LAHORE: The Punjab government seems to be indifferent towards paramedics and other lower-grade employees who had been doing their duties during the Covid-19 pandemic at the state-run hospitals as they still await the payment of special risk allowance as promised by Chief Minister Usman Buzdar last year for their services.

The chief minister had announced during the first wave of Covid-19 in March last year that special risk allowance, equal to one salary, will be paid to the doctors, nurses, medical staff and others engaged in the treatment of the patients affected by the coronavirus.

Declaring it a glaring example of “discrimination”, these employees say the health department paid special risk allowance or Covid allowance to the doctors and nurses but denied the same to the lower grade staff of the public hospitals.

The Pakistan Health Support Staff Association (PHSSA) has warned of a province-wide agitation, stating that if the government continued to show apathy towards the lower health staff, thousands of these employees would take to the street, demanding their right.

PHSSA president Rana Pervez, chairman Hakeem Khan Niazi, Amanat Ali and other office- bearers also took up the matter of non-payment of the allowance with heath secretary Dr Ahmad Javed Qazi in a meeting held here the other day.

Rana Pervez deplored the government’s discrimination against the paramedics and other supporting staff and warned it was causing unrest among them.

“We are giving time to the health secretary and other high-ups for payment of risk allowance to the paramedics as was promised by the chief minister and if our demand was not met, we reserve the right to take any step,” Rana Pervez said.

Amanat Ali said these employees risked their lives while attending the Covid patients and were still discharging their duties in corona wards and emergency units of the public hospitals during the 4th wave of the paramedics.

In many cases, he said, the critical Covid patients were left unattended even by the doctors and nurses, but the supporting staff kept on taking care of them.

He appealed to the chief minister to take notice of the “discriminatory policy” of the health authorities and direct them to treat all hospital employees, including doctors, nurses and paramedics, equally.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2021