COVID-19 allowance restored for Sindh medical staff after continued protests

KARACHI: Protests by the medical staff of Sindh public hospitals have come to fruition on Monday as Sindh government yielded to their demand of continuing COVID-19 allowance, ARY News reported.

The staff staged protests after the public hospitals under provincial health department discontinued the COVID-19 allowance that was originally designed to compensate the medical personnel for their work in the medical emergency situation following the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.

After the Sindh Health Department suspended the remuneration for the staff, it resulted in incessant protests by the employees of these hospitals to which the government finally surrendered to their demands.

The health department wrote to the finance department earlier today to restore medical staff COVID-19 compensation funds.

It said that the novel coronavirus has not been eradicated from the land and the number of infection cases has only jacked up recently.

The letter from the health department further directed the finance department to restore and continue the COVID-19 funds for the medical staff until the pandemic has wiped off from Sindh.

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After days of protests resulted in the restoration of remunerations for the staff, the staff are now back to work.

The Covid-19 risk allowance was discontinued after a Sindh government notification released on October 9 stated “Considering the weakening severity of Covid-19 pandemic in the province, the risk allowance (being) granted to the personnel of health department vide finance department’s order dated June 6, 2020, and dated July 9, 2020, is hereby discontinued effect from October 1, 2020.”

The order for discontinuing the allowance was to be effective from October 1, the notification said.