MANSEHRA: Residents of Kaghan valley staged a sit-in on 13-October-2024 to protest the ongoing shortage of teachers and doctors at the local schools and health facilities.
Maulana Sher Zaman, the prayer leader of the central mosque in Kaghan town, while addressing the demonstrators, stated, “The government earns substantial revenue from tourism in Kaghan valley, yet we still lack essential health and education services.”
Chanting slogans in support of their demands and against the government, the protesters blocked the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road for over an hour.
“Our seasonal facilities provide health and education services for only four to five months, and even then, we are without adequate teachers and doctors,” Zaman added.
He said that 23 teaching positions at the Government Higher Secondary School for Boys in Kaghan have remained vacant for years, negatively impacting students’ education.
“The situation is the same at the Government High School for Girls in the area where 21 posts of teachers are lying vacant but the government is yet to appoint faculty members,” Zaman said.
Mohammad Khalid, a local elder, said that the only government health facility in Kaghan town was facing a shortage of doctors and paramedical staff for years.
“In some cases, pregnant women have died while being taken to health facilities in Mansehra and Abbottabad due to complicated obstetric issues,” he said.
Khalid also pointed out that local schools and health facilities only operate from May to September, and remain closed for the rest of the year.
“People migrate to Garhi Habibullah and other areas in Hazara for the winter, yet the government has failed to provide quality services even during the brief operational months,” he added.
Published in News Daily on 14-October-2024.
