On March 25, the Grand Health Alliance held a protest rally in Lahore. This rally was organised against the Punjab government’s privatisation of Basic Health Units and Rural Health Centres. Under this government decision, thousands of employees are being forcibly removed through outsourcing. As a result, these employees have been compelled to protest. This government action is part of a series of steps to completely privatise health institutions like other public institutions under the IMF policy.
Currently, there are 2502 Basic Health Units and Rural Health Centres in Punjab. In January 2025, the Punjab government outsourced (privatised) 150 Basic Health Units as ‘Maryam Nawaz Health Clinics’ (MNHCs), with plans to privatise an additional 1200. As a result, 200,000 employees could be dismissed from their jobs. Additionally, Health Teaching Centres are also being privatised, with a notification issued for the outsourcing of Jinnah Hospital Lahore.
These Basic Health Units are being handed over to private doctors, and each centre will be allocated 7 to 8 lakh rupees monthly. Therefore, it will be at the discretion of the contractor (private doctor) to employ as many staff as they wish. This clearly indicates that many employees will be dismissed from their jobs, and those who continue working will face salary reductions. According to reports, whereas employees previously received monthly salaries of 40-50 thousand rupees, after privatisation they are being forced to work for monthly salaries of 20-25 thousand rupees.
The Grand Health Alliance and other unions associated with health institutions have held impressive protests in dozens of districts across Punjab. In Lahore, a protest rally was also held from Ganga Ram Hospital to the Punjab Assembly and continued to the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department. Thousands of doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other employees associated with this sector from across Punjab participated in this protest rally. During this time, the streets of Lahore echoed with the slogans of employees.
Privatisation is a robbery of the basic rights of the public, which will not only push the future of employees and their families towards destruction but will also affect the rest of the working population. In the small districts and villages of Punjab, where Basic Health Units and Rural Health Centres are the only source of basic healthcare facilities for the working people, instead of improving them, these institutions are being sold. Previously, schools were privatised at low prices for basic education facilities, and now basic health facilities are also being snatched from the working people. Governments have already increased inflation so much that it is difficult for working people to afford one meal a day, and under these privatisation policies, covering the expenses of education, health, and travel is no less than a luxury for workers.
The employees say they will continue their strike for a few hours daily in their departments. They say that if the government does not withdraw the privatisation decision, they will hold full-scale protest demonstrations in all districts of Punjab on April 7, and soon, a call for a protest sit-in outside the Punjab Assembly will be given.
The PTUS appeals to trade unions, workers’ associations, students, and farmers across the country to raise their voices against the privatisation of the health sector and contribute to this struggle.
The government has already started the process of privatising education, WAPDA, railways, and other public institutions, including health, and employees of all these institutions are also protesting. The All Government Employees Grand Alliance (AGEGA) has been protesting against these anti-worker policies for several years. Government employees everywhere are struggling with courage and bravery. The workers’ fight against privatisation and inflation is a shared one. Therefore, it can be fought better against the government and its anti-public actions not by being divided but by being united.
For their victory, employees of all institutions will have to move towards a nationwide general strike based on this mutual unity.
