Daily Times

PESHAWAR: The Polio teams in the capital city are working without the support of the police, the team’s members say. The police stations are making lame excuses to guard the polio workers amid insecurity and a slow pace to achieve the target goals.

It is pertinent to be mention here that the police will carry out polio teams’ security through cordoning off the area instead of patrolling with the teams during the vaccination drive.

The polio workers of the various union councils of Peshawar district have voiced grave concern over the vulnerable security arrangements of the police and slammed the cordoning off plan as a lame excuse.

The workers said the attitude of the Peshawar district police pertaining to the security of the polio teams could be fatal.

The female representative told Daily Times on request of anonymity that the drive had begun two days earlier and female workers were administering polio vaccination at door steps without any security of the police.

She said that despite their earnest request the police had denied to provide security adding the overall fear and threat had spread among the polio workers which has relatively affected their performance in the field.

It pertinent to mention here that polio teams performing their duty are the most vulnerable.

The polio team workers of the UC Khalisa-1 told the scribe that around 29 teams including males and females were administering polio vaccination on the second day without police surveillance and security. The scores of workers said that the arrangement plan to carry out security through cordoning off the area would help nothing at large.

Female polio workers said that “I am completely nervous in absence of the police whenever I knock at the door for vaccination”. She said “I do not know which child would be vaccinated and who would be left behind”.

She said “I have completely been overtaken by the threat of any ambush terrorist bid as I have seen in the past with other polio workers while performing polio vaccination.

When contacted, the official of the District Polio Control Room (DPCR), said that apart from the new plan where security will be made possible through the cordoning off mechanism the police stations of the UC had been informed about the security arrangements.

However, the polio teams operating in the UC Palosi said the police station had been informed time and again to provide security to polio teams especially female teams but police riders do not pay their visit on the first day but no response came on the second day of the drive.

The official claimed that the police were making lame excuses which could ultimately affect the performance of the teams.

UC Khalisa 1 like so many other UCs of the Peshawar district consists of around 50000 population where the set target for the current 29 polio teams to administer polio vaccination is more than 11000 children. The unavailability of security to polio teams means giving more opportunity to terrorists on one hand but it is also increasing the possibility to deprive each and every child from polio vaccination.