Health workers sit on snow during a polio vaccination drive in Azad Jammu Kashmir’s Neelum Valley on February 4, 2025. PHOTO: AFP
RAWALPINDI:
Due to a severe economic and financial crisis, the Ministry of Health has reduced the duration of the upcoming anti-polio campaign from seven days to four days and has also made major cuts in the compensation of male and female polio workers, area officers and doctors in the union council.
Significant cuts have also been imposed on workers’ facilities, raising fears that the anti-polio campaign will be hit hard. Polio workers, angered by the reduction in payments, have protested and threatened demonstrations.
Claims by the district administration to eliminate polio in Rawalpindi have also been proven false. The next anti-polio campaign in Rawalpindi district will begin on February 2 and continue from Monday, February 2 to Thursday, February 5.
Earlier, polio workers were given a lump sum of Rs 13,000 per campaign, which has now been reduced to Rs 7,000. Area officers, who earlier received a total of Rs19,000 for the campaign period, will now be paid Rs9,216. Similarly, union council doctors who were earlier paid Rs25,000 per promotion, now receive only Rs16,000.
Alarms have also been raised over the possibility of further reductions in the future.
The health department is facing a serious financial and economic crisis and compensation has been reduced due to lack of funds.
It has been decided to continue these cuts in stages. Polio workers have strongly opposed the reduction, demanding that the decision be withdrawn and full previous compensation restored, warning of strong protests if their demands are not met.
Women polio workers termed the move unfair and said the government should curb its own extravagance instead of “depriving” poor daily wage workers of their compensation.
Last year, the district administration had declared Rawalpindi polio-free, but new sampling has found a high prevalence of the polio virus in the city’s sewage. As a result, it has been decided to continue polio campaigns throughout 2026, with campaigns to be conducted every two months. It has also been decided to target families who refuse polio drops. According to records, there has been a record rise in cases of refusal in Rawalpindi, including in posh areas like Khayaban-e-Sir Syed and Satellite Town.
