Basic amenities: Early completion of Saaf Pani project crucial: CM

CM orders transparency in provision of medicines at public hospitals

LAHORE:

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Friday provision of safe drinking water to citizens was essential in a healthy society.

He was chairing a meeting to review progress on the Saaf Pani project.

The chief minister ordered that work on the project be accelerated. No negligence would be tolerated in this regard, he said. “Access to potable water is the right of every citizen. The government will make sure that safe drinking water is provided to every citizen within a few years,” Sharif said.

He said people could be saved from various [water-borne] diseases if they had access to clean drinking water. He said it was government’s responsibility to adopt austerity measures during the execution of such schemes.

“Utilising resources prudently is our priority. Effective execution of public schemes has helped save billions of rupees,” the chief minister said. He said there was no shortage of resources for completing projects like the Saaf Pani scheme. He called for using modern technology in the completion of development schemes. He said people should get an interrupted supply under the water scheme.

Sharif said the government was committed to lifting people’s standards of living by launching welfare schemes for the purpose.

Housing Minister Tanvir Aslam Malik and the chief secretary attended the meeting.

Medicines

The chief minister chaired another meeting on Friday to review the process of procurement, supply and distribution of medicines free of charge at government hospitals and rural and basic health centres.

Sharif said each year medicines worth billions of rupees were bring provided to patients at government hospitals free of charge. “It is the responsibility of the authorities concerned to ensure that medicines are purchased, supplied and distributed in a transparent manner,” he said.

He asked the officers concerned to make sure that patients faced no difficulties in acquiring the medicines. “Serving the ailing humanity is an act of worship.”

Finance Minister Ayesha Ghaus Pasha, Chief Minister’s Adviser on Health Khwaja Salman Rafiq, the chief secretary and the King Edward Medical University vice chancellor attended the meeting.

Security

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan called on the chief minister on Friday. They discussed matters related to security.

Khan said the federal government had formed a committee, headed by the interior secretary, to probe the the making of a video related to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement at Adiala Jail.

The chief minister, too, directed the provincial home secretary to launch an inquiry in this regard.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30^th, 2016.