From Muawuya Bala Idris, Katsina
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Umaru Musa Yar’adua University (UMYU) chapter, has described the Katsina State Health Insurance Scheme as ineffective in meeting its objectives.
Speaking at a news conference in Katsina, the chairman of the union, Comrade Murtala A. Kwarah, said health providers under the scheme have failed to deliver efficient services to beneficiaries.
Kwarah explained that the government’s failure to channel adequate funds to health providers has resulted in the non-availability of drugs for patients under the scheme.
In his words: “In most cases, the health providers are faced with drug shortages. A patient sometimes receives half a tablet of Panadol instead of a complete one.”
He noted that while the scheme has laudable objectives for workers, it urgently requires reforms to meet the expectations of beneficiaries.
Highlighting other challenges facing the university, Kwarah called on the state government to implement the Unified University Salary Structure (UUSS) for UMYU staff. He said the implementation of the salary structure was a strict condition of the National Universities Commission (NUC) for establishing a university.
According to him, it is disheartening that UMYU remains the only institution within the Sokoto Zone yet to benefit from the unified salary structure.
Kwarah also cautioned the state government against implementing certain policy reforms at the university, warning that they could undermine institutional autonomy.
“It is important to remind government that certain policy directions, though well intended, have the potential to compromise the autonomy of the institution. These reforms could impinge on the effective and independent running of the university,” he said.