Surprise visit: Imran orders improvement in Polyclinic’s infrastructure

Health minister vows to resolve the water crisis of twin cities next year

ISLAMABAD/RAWALPINDI: Days after making an unannounced visit to the largest tertiary care hospital in the federal capital, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday evening made another unannounced visit to a public sector hospital, this time to the second largest hospital in the city, the Federal Government Services Hospital (Polyclinic).

Like his trip to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) last week, Imran was accompanied by Federal Health Minister Aamer Mehmood Kiani and Special Assistant Iftikhar Durrani.

During his visit, Imran inspected the state of affairs at the hospital, the facilities offered, the state of medicines being provided and inquired after the patients admitted there.



He visited various sections of the hospital and was briefed by the hospital’s administration about the facilities.

Appreciating the performance of the hospital for making efficient arrangements and providing medical facilities to the people, Imran directed the hospital’s administration to keep providing quality medical care to the people.

Being one of the oldest hospitals in the federal capital, Imran took notice of the state of the hospital’s building. He directed a facelift for the hospital’s building and to improve the infrastructure of the facility.

The visit comes days after Imran had visited Pims where he reviewed the facilities, especially in the old wards and interacted with patients.

Water shortage in twin cities

With the ongoing dry spell of winters bringing more water-related problems for the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Federal Health Minister Aamer Mehmood Kiani on Sunday said that they were working on projects to permanently resolve the water shortage this year.

The distribution of health card  - the government's premier health insurance scheme - will also commence from next month.

He said this while addressing a meeting meant to monitor the progress of development work at Dheri Hasanabad in Rawalpindi on Sunday. He was accompanied by the Punjab Law Minister Basharat Raja along with other Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party leaders including Raja Moin Sultan, Shahid Iqbal, Malik Haroon and Rashid Mehmood.

Kiani promised that Prime Minister Imran Khan will soon approve a Rs35 billion project which aims at providing clean drinking water for the twin cities from the Tarbela dam.

Thereafter, work on installing a pipeline — which would bring water from the dam to the twin cities — would kick off.

Noting that the health card will benefit over 25 million Pakistanis, the health minister further said that provision of health facilities for the public is their top priority, adding that serving humanity is both a religious and ethical responsibility. In this regard, he said that the government is also working to improve health facilities and medicine stocks at public hospitals.

Using a health euphemism that cancer cannot be cured with the help of an anti-fever tablet, Kiani commented on the government’s ongoing anti-corruption drive and aim set on some prominent political opponents.



“We have cracked down against the big wigs of corruption so that we can bring back the plundered wealth of the country,” Kiani said, adding that PM Imran has vowed to eradicate corruption from the country.

He further said that the government will work to mend and elevate the prestige of state institutions.

Raja announced plans to build a dispensary and a tube well in Dheri Hasanabad.

He added that the problem of low gas pressure has been overcome. Moreover, he said that the provincial government has arranged around 2,000 kanals of land to build a new graveyard in the garrison city. Lamenting that past provincial rulers ruthlessly plundered public money and mired it in heavy debts, Raja said that their government will ensure money is available for developmental work.

He later inspected the progress of development works in Ward 3 of the cantonment.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2018.