PTI's Shaikh demands removal of CCTV cameras from gynaecology ward

PTI, PPP leaders continue knocking heads, each blaming the other for Sindh's problems

HYDERABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) leader Haleem Adil Shaikh has demanded an inquiry over the installation of CCTV cameras in the gynaecology ward and delivery room at Civil Hospital, Thatta. "More shocking is the fact that male staff is posted to monitor these cameras," said Shaikh, while talking to the media at the hospital on Sunday.

He demanded that the cameras be immediately removed and the officials who installed those cameras face disciplinary action. "We thought that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government is corrupt and inept but it is also unprincipled," said Shaikh.

The hospital's administration told the local media that CCTV cameras were installed for security reasons. But they denied that activity in the labour room was monitored through the cameras.

According to Shaikh, many patients and attendants complained to him that they were being asked to pay for ultrasounds and other health services which are supposed to be provided for free. He said the hospital's annual budget was Rs750 million but the patients were neither provided quality health services nor medicines.

He deplored that the provincial government was gradually handing over all government hospitals to non-governmental organisations (NGOs). "This shows that the PPP government has failed to run government hospitals." Shaikh, accompanied by PTI leaders, also visited a taluka hospital and schools.



PPP responds

In a statement on Sunday, Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister on Information, Law and Anti-corruption Barrister Murtaza Wahab said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders were misleading the people of Sindh. He accused PTI of shedding crocodile tears over the state of affairs in Sindh.

Wahab, who is also the spokesperson for Sindh government, claimed that government hospitals in Sindh were not only equipped with state-of-the-art technology but also fared better than their counterparts in other provinces. Through modern health facilities the provincial government is providing quality healthcare, he said adding that only the visually impaired could claim to not see this.

Taking a jab at opposition leader in Sindh Assembly, Firdous Shamim Naqvi of PTI, Wahab said that there was no need to show false sympathy/sincerity with the people of Sindh.

The adviser claimed that accomplishments of the Sindh government could only be seen by those who had sincere intentions and clarity of mind, adding that PTI leaders lacked both. He maintained that there was no need for PTI to feign concern over Sindh's state when it was incompetent when it came to the affairs of the federal government.