Ending poverty premier’s mission: Murad

Murad Saeed says he would visit Sindh to see hospitals

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed on Saturday observed that the premier did not believe in doing politics over petty issues but serving the masses as he was working on a mission to eradicate poverty from the country.

He was addressing a media talk in response to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto news conference.

Murad called for rising above political point-scoring and making collective efforts to root out poverty and hunger from the country.

He said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had increased the share of Sindh in Ehsaas programme by 10% due to prevalent poverty there and added that more funds would be given to the province.

“The prime minister’s visit to Larkana, the home constituency of Bilawal, was meant to distribute cheques of financial assistance to the vulnerable segments of the society under Ehsaas programme,” he said.

“Last year, Rs 192 billion were allocated for Ehsaas programme whereas this year, the amount had been raised to Rs 208 billion,” he added.

The minister recalled that when the lockdown started, labourers at Thar coal mines faced starvation and maintained that the Sindh governor arranged financial support for them.

“The provincial government, instead of thanking him acted negatively,” he said.

“When PTI MNAs from Karachi were given grants by the federal government for resolution of water crisis in their respective constituencies, the provincial government took stay from courts,” he further noted.

Murad remarked that the premier had provided immediate relief to the unemployed during the lockdown and relaxed the restrictions to save the daily wagers from starvation.

He maintained that the Sindh government did not fulfill its promise to provide ration to the people saying that the politics of Bilawal Bhutto was merely confined to statements.

Murad accepted Bilawal’s challenge to compare the health facilities between Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and invited the PPP chairman to visit K-P and see the health infrastructure there.

The minister said that he too would visit Sindh and see the hospitals there.

Commenting on the National Finance Commission (NFC) award, the minister noted that 100% share of Sindh had been released and that Ministry of Finance had issued a clarification in this regard.

(With additional input from APP)