Punjab takes over long-stalled hospital project
Following years of federal inaction, the Punjab government is set to revive the long-abandoned Rawalpindi Mother and Child Hospital project under its Annual Development Programme (ADP). The revised plan envisions the completion of the facility as a state-of-the-art Children’s Hospital, with the project’s cost now escalated to Rs9 billion. PHOTO: EXPRESS
The long-delayed Rawalpindi Mother and Child Hospital project — under construction for the past 22 years and with its cost rising from Rs1.5 billion to Rs9b billion — has now been transferred from the federal to the Punjab government, which will construct a Children's Hospital instead.
The status of the project has been revised, and it has been decided to complete the unfinished building and establish a Children's Hospital instead. The Punjab government has issued a notification to include the project in its Annual Development Programme (ADP) and to prepare a new PC-1 for its execution.
The foundation stone of the hospital was laid by two former Prime Ministers, Shaukat Aziz and Imran Khan. In addition, the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Saqib Nisar visited the site just 23 days before the 2018 general elections and announced that the project would be completed under the supervision of a special cell of the Supreme Court.
According to the notification issued on June 16 by the Secretary, Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department, Punjab, Dr Hina Sattar, Head of Paediatrics at Rawalpindi Medical University, has been appointed as Project Director for the establishment of the Children's Hospital under the ADP. She will coordinate with Assistant Professor Dr Masood Sadiq, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Child Health Sciences, Lahore, to prepare a revised PC-1 for the project.
It is worth noting that former federal Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed had facilitated the foundation-laying of a 200-bed Mother and Child Hospital by then Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz during the federal government formed after the 2002 elections. At the time, the total estimated cost of the project was Rs1.5b. However, the project remained incomplete during the five-year tenure of that government. While the main structure was constructed, critical work, including finishing, renovation, machinery installation, and recruitment of human resources, was never completed.
From 2008 to 2017, the project remained abandoned. Then, on July 1, 2018 — just 23 days before the general elections — then Chief Justice Saqib Nisar, along with Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, visited the site and announced that the SC's special cell would now oversee the project's completion.
Later, after the PTI came to power following the 2018 elections, then Prime Minister Imran Khan visited the site once again and reiterated the promise to complete the hospital. Despite significant progress during PTI's three-and-a-half-year tenure, the project still could not be completed. The construction eventually halted, and the partially built structure began to deteriorate due to weather and neglect.
Now, the project — previously under federal jurisdiction — has officially been handed over to the Punjab government, which will provide the funding and complete the project as a Children's Hospital under a new PC-1.