How many PMs does it take to fix an X-ray machine?

PM Gilani visited PIMS but all the X-ray machines were out-of-order - so the hospital had them all replaced.

A few months ago, there was a news piece about the prime minister’s visit to the biggest hospital in the capital which resulted in a change of the X-ray machine a few weeks later. It appeared that the prime minister had visited the hospital to get a chest X-ray done, but was kept waiting owing to one of the machines being dysfunctional in the ophthalmology department.

Two hours later, the dilapidated machines refused to budge due to a ‘technical fault’; if anyone was expecting a miracle it did not happen. This is a normal ordeal for an average visitor to the renowned hospital; they would have taken it in their stride, sent a few curses hurling toward the responsible officials’ way and gotten on with their business of waiting.

However, the prime minister is not an average visitor and after this episode all of the hospital’s out-of-order machines were replaced. Perhaps if our national leaders and their families would stay long enough in the country to use domestic facilities and institutes, the Pakistani people would lead a more relaxed existence.

It is unfortunate that it took the visit of a prime minister for the hospital administration to carry out a procedural replacement of machines. We can just hope our representatives get enough time in between foreign visits to pay heed to the deteriorating conditions of the local infrastructure, because a factual account here proves that all it would take, is one visit.