Sindh Revokes Covid-19 Allowance for Frontline Health Workers

Much to the dismay of the health workers, the Sindh government has announced that they will not be offering coronavirus health risk allowance anymore.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah approved the decision to remove the allowance with effect from October 1st, 2020.

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The decision did not sit well with the nurses, Sindh Young Nurses Association (SYNA) is demanding to reinstate the allowance for nurses working in Covid-19 wards.

SYNA members criticized the decision and said that the medical superintendents and clerks already shared the funds between them, depriving nurses of the allowance. They further added that doctors, nurses, and paramedics working at the isolation centers and Covid-19 health care facilities haven’t received the allowance for the past seven months.

In June, the Sindh government introduced the allowance to provide an incentive to the frontline workers. Health workers were supposed to get 50 percent of their basic salary in addition to their salary.

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SYNA members also accused the hospital administration of delaying the payments and clerks of embezzling the allowance.

They threatened to approach the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) or stage a protest if the issue was not resolved by the authorities.