SWABI: There is a confusion about the status of the contractual People`s Primary Healthcare Initiative workers after the recent appointment of medical technicians to their posts.

Ironically, the PPHI workers haven`t been paid the November salary even when December is about to end.

The relevant ofñcials said the contractual members of PPHI staff had been working for some years, while the district health officer had appointed 24 medical technicians, including both men and women, in October.

They said the PPHI workers were upset by the hiring of technicians for their posts and had been continuing with their job amid uncertainty.

The officials said they wondered if medical technicians could work in the positions of PPHI workers and in case the answer was no, then who was to blame for it.

Saima Bibi, a PPHI worker at Kotha Basic Health Unit, said she had yet to receive the November salary.

`Our contract will expire on Dec 31 but we`ve yet to receive a letter for it from either PPHI or the DHO office,` she said.

Other PPHI workers also said they failed to understand the rationale behind the hiring of technicians against their posts when they continued to hold them.They said they should have been relieved of their responsibilities before new technicians were hired in their place.

The PPHI workers said they had contacted the district health officer to know about their job status but got no satisfactory answer.

When contacted, Dr Ihsan Akbar, who was the district health ofñcer untilthree days ago, said he had informed the PPHI district support manager before the appointment of new technicians on permanent basis.

`Pd advised the manager to formally inform PPHI workers about end of their contract on Dec 31 a month in advance but he didn`t heed my advice. Only he`s to blame for all this confusion, he said. Dr Ihsan said once permanent staff was appointed, then the contractual PPHI workers would not get salary.

He said the new medical technicians` documents were being processed and that they would get salary from the day they assumed duty.

ANTI-POLIO DRIVE ENDS: The three-day anti-polio campaign ended here on Thursday.

District chief of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation Dr Yaqoob Khan told reporters that after the successful completion of the campaign, Friday would be the `catch-up day` meant to reach out to all those children, who didn`t get anti-polio drops during the last three days.

He said the campaign had targeted 258,000 children, including Afghan refugees, in the district.

The EPI district chief said anti-polio teams went from door to door amid the police security.