Staff Reporter :
Salaries of about 2900 officials of the Urban Primary Health Care Services Delivery Project (UPHCSDP) have been pending for 14 months. Even the possibility of disbursement of bonus is doubtful.
When asked, one of the health officials of an urban health care center of Dhaka South City Corporation area said, “We do not know whether we shall get the salary and bonus. We are really frustrated.”.
“We are helpless! We have been working for 14 months without getting salaries.! How can we manage house rents, how can we provide our daily necessaries including foods,” said another one of them on condition of anonymity.
Many of the officials were forced to leave their rented houses which they hired.
Sources said, the first phase of the UPHCSDP ended on March 2018. The second phase of the programme started in April 2018.
But with the starting of the second phase, the workers of projects have fallen in deep crisis for non-payment of their salaries.
The workers have not got bonuses also of last two Eids.
When contacted, Abdul Hakim Majumder, the Project Director of the programme said on Wednesday, “There are some sorrowful things facing the health workers. Their salaries have been pending more than a year. A donor bank is to fund the project. We have asked them to release the fund quickly.”
“We are trying hard to overcome the crisis period and to give them salaries by the end of the June,” he said.
Earlier in April this year, the Project Director assured that they would be able to solve the crisis by May.
Health officials said, they are in trouble. Firstly they failed to meet their family needs including children’s educational expanses, entertainment, dresses and medical costs, secondly many of them are facing salary discriminations.
“In same posts in different areas in the capital city the authority fixed different wages. Some are reasonable, some are lower. It cannot be acceptable. We are demanding the parity in wages for same posts in every health care centers,” said one of them.
When asked, Project Director Abdul Hakim Majumder said, “It is up to the NGOs who have been given responsibilities to operate the services. They have taken the liabilities to manage the services by taking participation of bids.”
Sources said, 11 NGOs are involved in partnership with the project. Employees of the Health Care Centers said, the bidders were asked to submit tenders keeping the provision of medicines and other materials needed for medical treatment in those health care centers.
But they have not been asked to keep the workers’ salaries as per the then wages.
As a result, the project officials are now trying to curtail employees’ salaries to manage the cost limit keeping other costing as per the given chart.
As a result, the health care officials are facing uncertainty about their jobs and facing discrimination of wages as well.
Many of them said, they are offering such lower wage which will not be reasonable in the account of the living cost in the capital city.
Salaries of about 2900 officials of the Urban Primary Health Care Services Delivery Project (UPHCSDP) have been pending for 14 months. Even the possibility of disbursement of bonus is doubtful.
When asked, one of the health officials of an urban health care center of Dhaka South City Corporation area said, “We do not know whether we shall get the salary and bonus. We are really frustrated.”.
“We are helpless! We have been working for 14 months without getting salaries.! How can we manage house rents, how can we provide our daily necessaries including foods,” said another one of them on condition of anonymity.
Many of the officials were forced to leave their rented houses which they hired.
Sources said, the first phase of the UPHCSDP ended on March 2018. The second phase of the programme started in April 2018.
But with the starting of the second phase, the workers of projects have fallen in deep crisis for non-payment of their salaries.
The workers have not got bonuses also of last two Eids.
When contacted, Abdul Hakim Majumder, the Project Director of the programme said on Wednesday, “There are some sorrowful things facing the health workers. Their salaries have been pending more than a year. A donor bank is to fund the project. We have asked them to release the fund quickly.”
“We are trying hard to overcome the crisis period and to give them salaries by the end of the June,” he said.
Earlier in April this year, the Project Director assured that they would be able to solve the crisis by May.
Health officials said, they are in trouble. Firstly they failed to meet their family needs including children’s educational expanses, entertainment, dresses and medical costs, secondly many of them are facing salary discriminations.
“In same posts in different areas in the capital city the authority fixed different wages. Some are reasonable, some are lower. It cannot be acceptable. We are demanding the parity in wages for same posts in every health care centers,” said one of them.
When asked, Project Director Abdul Hakim Majumder said, “It is up to the NGOs who have been given responsibilities to operate the services. They have taken the liabilities to manage the services by taking participation of bids.”
Sources said, 11 NGOs are involved in partnership with the project. Employees of the Health Care Centers said, the bidders were asked to submit tenders keeping the provision of medicines and other materials needed for medical treatment in those health care centers.
But they have not been asked to keep the workers’ salaries as per the then wages.
As a result, the project officials are now trying to curtail employees’ salaries to manage the cost limit keeping other costing as per the given chart.
As a result, the health care officials are facing uncertainty about their jobs and facing discrimination of wages as well.
Many of them said, they are offering such lower wage which will not be reasonable in the account of the living cost in the capital city.
