Call to introduce community security during anti-polio campaigns.

Peshawar -- Anti-polio campaign is underway in Khyber pakhtunkhwa province amid tight security. however, this time the situation is more sensitive as militant attacks have witnessed a surge and the police are not only protecting the polio teams but they also have to handle the overall law and order, with the backing of other security forces too.

Security for the polio teams has been an issue since a long time.There have been instances in which the polio workers are even afraid of being escorted by the cops as they believe that they may be identified as vaccination workers while being escorted by the cops and thus they may suffer an attack as a result.

In the ongoing situation when the region faces militancy and turbulence, certain measures are needed to be taken so that the police focus more on the general law and order and less on the security of polio teams. For this purpose, security in the form of special police recruited from the community in the work area of the health workers can be ensured.

Such members of community duly armed and given police uniform and powers can be even paid wages per day when they escort members vaccinating children from door to door.They will also carry weapons with them and in case of an attack, they can retaliate by attacking the attackers. This way, the vaccinators will not only feel protected but such persons will also get shortterm jobs as they will get paid for their duty of protecting their own family members.

Under such a mechanism, a significant number of cops would also get relieved and they would instead focus more on the general law and order and countering militancy in various parts of the province. according to a spokesperson for emergency Operation Centre Kp, as many...