HYDERABAD: Labour leaders and rights activists have urged federal government to comply with Supreme Court’s orders for creating a service structure of Lady Health Workers and warned that the provincial government is committing contempt of court by failing to implement the apex court’s instructions.

At a joint press conference at local press club here on Monday, All Pakistan Lady Health Workers Union (APLHWU) leader Bushra Arain, All Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Workers Union leader Iqbal Ahmed Khan and Mirza Maqsood of Pakistan Institute of Labour Education & Research said that LHWs who had retired or passed away between 1994 and 2022 were denied pension benefits and relatives of the deceased workers too were not given jobs under deceased worker’s quota.

They said that even relatives of the LHWs, who were gunned down by terrorists were unfortunately ignored. As many as 118 LHWs were martyred in the line of duty and dozens were wounded but LHWs continued to perform their duties religiously to administer vaccines for Covid-19, polio and dengue, they said, adding that they were also called upon to do security duties in elections.

They said that many health workers faced sexual harassment besides being exposed to social discrimination because of their work and faced threats even this day but these brave women had not allowed attacks and threats to stop them from doing work.

Still, they said, the LHWs were deprived of several things which were their right under Constitution and labour laws. Through their association they had filed a petition in 2013 with the Supreme Court, which ordered that LHWs should be employed permanently and retrospectively from July 2012. The apex court also ordered that service structure be created for the LHWs which was not done, they said.

They said the LHW programme was national but after 18th amendment, health among many other subjects was devolved to provinces. In Sindh, they said, its nomenclature

was changed as Lady Health Worker Program For Family Planning and Primary Health Care, they said.

They said that the first step for LHWs was a nationwide campaign to ask for permanent employment and they demanded all LHWs across Pakistan should be made permanent. Sindh’s LHWs leaders and workers took lead in petitioning the court and campaigning until they achieved status of permanent workers - a major milestone.

They said that although this was a great moment for them but again it was not over since other issues attached to it needed resolution and unless these issues were resolved it would be pointless to proceed.

In 2019, they said, LHWs got All Lady Health Workers’ Programme Union (ALPU) registered under Sindh Industrial Relations Act, 2013, and focused on permanent workers’ status and no-change in programme’s structure.

They said that workers were deprived of their basic rights and LHWs (BS-5), lady health supervisors (BS-7) and other staff in basic grades were stuck up in the same grades even after many years since the SC’s order. They were not promoted to next scale nor were they provided facilities enjoyed by other health employees in public sector, they said.

They said as per 2017 census, Sindh’s population was 47.9 million and according to 2022 digital census it stood at 56.3m. In five years, they said, many LHWs had either retired or died and their number had dropped to 19,700.

This meant that decreasing number of LHWs and increase in population had put pressure on the existing ones and made it quite difficult for them to fulfill their responsibilities, they said.

They demanded the provincial government complete the service structure for LHWs, lady health supervisors, and other staff and enforce it. More LHWs should be hired commensurate with the increase in population, they said.

They said that health risk allowance for workers should be revived and they be paid pension benefits, healthcare, equal pay and benefits, especially keeping economic empowerment of women workers in consideration.

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2023