KARACHI: In a stirring display of resolve, the lady health workers (LHWs) of Sindh have warned the provincial government that they will take to the streets if the draconian 75 percent cut in their operational budget is not immediately withdrawn. These daughters of Pakistan, who carry the torch of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto’s sacred mission, refuse to let her dream be buried by the very party she founded.
A Betrayal of Benazir’s Legacy
Speaking at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club, the All Lady Health Workers Programme Union (ALHWPU) declared that the first protest will be held in Karachi next week. Chairperson Bushra Arian, flanked by her steadfast colleagues, did not mince words. She accused the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government of attempting to dismantle a programme that Benazir Bhutto launched over three decades ago — a programme that brought healthcare to the doorstep of the poor for the first time in Pakistan’s history.
“It is tragic that the PPP is bent upon closing a programme initiated by its own leader,” Arian said, her voice trembling with righteous anger. “We will not let this happen. This is not just another government scheme; it is Shaheed Benazir’s vision. We will fight till the end.”
The Attack on the Poor and the Faithful
The union revealed that the government first slashed the budget by 75 percent, then transferred the remaining funds to a private company whose governing board has not even been formed. As a result, lady health workers are now without basic health kits and medicines. Supervisors have no fuel for their vehicles. Administrative supervision has been paralysed. The remaining funds are barely enough to pay salaries.
“Ironically,” Arian noted, “the historical name of the lady health workers’ programme has been removed from the budget document. The government is gradually outsourcing and privatising this sacred service.”
These steps, she said, violate the Supreme Court’s 2013 order that regularised over 105,000 LHWs across the province, as well as the government’s own promises made last year after the workers’ sit-ins.
The Unsung Heroes of the Nation
The lady health workers are the unsung soldiers of Pakistan’s healthcare battlefield. They deliver maternal and child healthcare, administer polio vaccinations, counsel families on nutrition and family planning, and rush to the frontlines during floods and emergencies. They serve in far-flung, high-risk areas where no other healthcare worker dares to go.
“We are always on the field, doing whatever we are asked to do,” Arian said, her eyes blazing with pride. “But our services have never been truly appreciated by this government.”
Unlike their sisters in Punjab, who were granted Grade 16 jobs, the lady health workers of Sindh have been denied upgradation and promotion. This is a violation of the programme’s original structure. The total strength of LHWs in Sindh has fallen from over 24,000 to just over 17,000, as no new appointments have been made for years. Nearly 60 percent of the province’s area is now without any lady health worker.
A Call to the Nation
“If this programme’s identity, structure and budget are destroyed, the worst sufferers will not just be the employees, but the poor masses of Sindh,” Arian warned. “We will not let Shaheed Benazir’s dream die. We are the sword of her vision, and we will not break.”
Activists Farhat Parveen and Mirza Maqsood also spoke at the press conference, lending their voices to the cause.
As Pakistan faces challenges from within and without, the lady health workers stand as a testament to the nation’s resilience. Their fight is not just for their own rights, but for the health and dignity of every poor soul in Sindh. The government must listen — or face the wrath of those who serve the people in the name of Allah and the nation.