Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has approved the regularization of services of 105086 Lady Health Workers (LHWs) including their supporting staff presently serving in the provinces, federally administered areas, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
The Prime Minister has also approved the concurrence of the Federal Government to reimburse the entire financial impact of this measure to the provinces including arrears.
The Prime Minister also approved proposal to put up the issue of Federal Financing of the programme beyond 2015 before the forthcoming meeting of Council of Common Interest for consideration and approval in the next National Finance Commission.
The Prime Minister also approved Federal Government's financing the pensionary liabilities due to the retirement of these employees upto the period of financing by the Federal government.
However, the Provincial governments will pay pension or institute contributory pension funds from their own resources  for these regular employees as per the prevalent provincial laws and rules.
It may be recalled that Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in his meeting on 3rd January 2013 with a delegation of LHWs promised to accept their longstanding demand for regularization of their services.
The provincial governments had been reluctant to regularize their services primarily due to involvement of huge financial costs in their regularization.
The Prime Minister said that the Lady Health Workers Programme was conceived and initiated by Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto under the National Programme for Family and Primary Health Care.
Applauding the role of LHWs,the Prime Minister said that the  regularization of their services will have a strategic impact on the outreach programme of health care in the country with specific emphasis on child and mother care.
The Prime Minister reaffirmed the commitment of the PPP led coalition government to regularize the contractual employees to provide them secure working environment and utilize their abilities for the welfare of the people  of the country.