‘Pakistan will continue to progress under PM Imran’

Minister dispels impression all vaccines donated, says govt pent $2b on their purchase

FAISALABAD:

State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib has said that Pakistan will continue to tread the road to progress and prosperity due to the prudent policies of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

He was talking to the media here at Sammundri Road after visiting various development projects in his constituency NA-108 on Saturday.

He recounted the successes of the previous year, saying that the United Nations and other international organisations had openly acknowledged the smart lockdown policy of Pakistan, which helped it win top position in returning back to normality despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

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He said that the New Year would bring in more good news for Pakistanis as the country had achieved the ambitious target of vaccinating more than 70 million people till Dec 31, 2021.

He dispelled an impression that all vaccines were donated by international organisations, adding that the government spent $2 billion on their purchase.

In this connection, he specially lauded the services of Federal Minister Asad Umar, Dr Faisal and NCOC, who are working day and night to save people from pandemic.

He termed the Punjab health card a gift of present government for the New Year, saying that the health sector remained neglected by the previous governments, but this government had given top priority and every family in Punjab will get free treatment up to Rs1 million.

While rejecting the criticism against Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, he said that the CM had the privilege to present a record development budget of Rs750 billion whereas the PML-N had presented a much-trumpeted budget of Rs488 billion.

He said that Punjab utilised 98 per cent of the allocated funds previous year, which reflected that the government was not only allocating funds but also making efforts to utilise it for the welfare of masses.

About Faisalabad, he said that it got a package of Rs13 billion for roads and infrastructure projects and the amount had already been released.

He said that work on Sammundri Road, Jhang Road and Jaranwala Road had been started while construction of Faisalabad-Chiniot Road would be started very soon under the public-private partnership model. He said that Punjab had allocated Rs360 billion for district development package to ensure equal distribution of funds among all districts of the province.