Paramedics stage demo against privatisation of health centres

JHANG: A large number of male and female supporting medical staff, under the banner of the Pakistan Paramedics Staff Association (PPSA), staged a protest against the Punjab government’s decision to privatise the health centres.

The protesting health workers held a major demonstration outside the Deputy Commissioner’s Office and the Jhang Press Club. During the protest, male and female paramedics/health workers raised slogans in favour of their demands. Addressing the protesters, PPSA district chairman Tahir Sadhana, central general secretary Shaukat Chughtai and other medical professionals declared that the privatisation of public health centres was unacceptable under any circumstances. The health staff of IRMNCH, NP, PMHI and other programmes, including midwives, LHWs, LHVs, CD supervisors, dispensers, sanitary inspectors and other supporting medical staff, participated in the protest. They stated that the protest by health professionals would expand to public hospitals across the Punjab as part of their resistance against the government’s decision. The protesters accused the government of depriving people, especially those in rural areas, of their fundamental right to healthcare by handing over public health facilities to private entities. They warned that privatisation would exploit both patients and medical staff, making healthcare inaccessible to the poor and deserving people. The protesting medical staff issued a strong ultimatum, demanding the immediate withdrawal of the privatisation decision. They cautioned that if their demands were not met, they would escalate and expand their protest movement across the Punjab.

OUTSOURCING OF CITY CLEANLINESS TO CONTRACTOR: After outsourcing the city’s cleanliness to a contractor, the Municipal Committee (MC) administration became lax in monitoring the contractor’s performance.

Sources revealed that the Punjab Local Government Department had empowered the Faisalabad Waste Management Company (FWMC) to improve sanitation and cleanliness of Jhang. The FWMC, in turn, awarded the cleanliness contract to a third party under the supervision of the Jhang MC administration. Sources further disclosed that approximately 205 sanitary workers were handed over to the contractor, while other sweepers remained assigned to the residences of top officials.

Local MC officials, reportedly dissatisfied with the new third party system, had allegedly started obstructing its implementation and had lost interest in maintaining the city’s cleanliness. As a result, the public was facing difficulties, with no one collecting garbage or cleaning street drains in areas such as Basti Attawali, Toba Road, New Eidgah Road and other localities. The contractor’s manager claimed that the cleanliness situation would improve at the street level under the supervision of the MC administration and the public complaints were being addressed speedily. On receiving complaints from the public, the MC Administrator/ADC (General) told The News that the MC chief officer had already been directed to resolve public grievances regarding streets cleanliness promptly.Meanwhile, the residents were frustrated with clogged and overflowing gutters in streets and urged the higher authorities to take notice of the situation.