By: Nuzair Ahmaed Jamro
There is no denying the fact that government Employees, in Pakistan, have been given numerous facilitations such as accommodation, Fuel, Vehicle and Medical in ample ways as offered by Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Baluchistan and Sindh Provincial Government.
It is saddening to apprise that employees in Sindh government are facing enormous hardships in Health facilitations, offered by the incumbent provincial government, which remain ineffective and useless due to the long procedures for claiming medical bills and delaying tactics.
Woefully, the truth is bitter to accept, swallow and digest. The budget for a medical facility, allocated to numerous departments by Sindh Government, has not specified or allowed to individual employees including officials and officers in their salary accounts like separate GP Fund Account or casual leave account where every employee is allowed to enjoy 25 days in a calendar year despite their difference in Position or Scale.
In various departments, practices related to medical reimbursement reveal that the lion share of the Medical budget is always swallowed by high-rank officials in claiming their heavy medical bills despite enjoying the other perks and privilege of holding administrative posts every year.
Despite the entitlement of only medical facilities to employees of Non-Administrative posts, they, being on Gazetted positions, remained deprived of it. These employees include School teachers, lecturers, Assistant professors, Principals and headmasters as well. Besides visiting and approaching the finance and administrative department due to poor process, they have to wait in queue for 3 to 6 years until they are given the opportunity by High officials even for claiming their medical bills of a meager amount ranging from 20 to 30 thousand only.
To conclude, it is high time for the incumbent government to learn lesson from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, neighbor province, in this regards rather than chalking out unplanned and ineffective strategies on the name of so-called health facilitation. Moreover, instead of passing frequent laws and poor amendments related to Health facilities for employees in crowded halls of Sindh Assembly, the existing health programs must be improved to a great extent.
It is need of the hour that beneficially projects as launched successfully by KPK Province like Sehat Sahulat Card, Micro-health Insurance Program for all citizens, should be initiated for all employees of Sindh government. So that every employee can enjoy the fruit of so-called medical reimbursement in a real sense and help the Provincial government in delivering its services to nation as a symbol of true democracy.
In a nutshell, it is the only remedy for the government of Sindh to win the hearts of citizens with affection and materialize it into patriotism. Retrospectively, it would pave the way forward for the existing government to bring people, belonging to any strata of Pakistani society, under an umbrella of one nation-state.