LAHORE - A member from the treasury benches, taking to task his own government over health facilities through an adjournment motion during the Punjab Assembly session, has pointed out that most of the city hospitals including Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Children Hospital and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital are treating three to four patients on one bed.
PML-N legislator Sheikh Allauddin through an adjournment motion voiced serious concern over what he called ‘Medical Terrorism’ targeting the poor patients of the province by not providing them their basic right of health facilities. He demanded through the motion to review the health policy.
The provincial legislature’s Wednesday sitting started with a delay of 32 minutes with Deputy Speaker Sardar Sher Ali Gorchani in the chair.
Allauddin’s motion also said that health facilities conditions at Mayo Hospital were also poor and the major reason behind it was the ego of one of its former medical superintendent who separated the institution from King Edward Medical University and gave it directly under the control of Health Department.
Mian Aslam Iqbal, an opposition member, after tabling of the motion on a point of order said that the apprehensions expressed by the mover endorsed his own view point concerning terrible situation at public hospitals for the failure of even provision of fair health facilities if not good. Allauddin’s motion pended till next week.
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader, Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed submitted a resolution demanding immediate probe into Axact Company’s scam, which had been alleged for its involvement in issuing fake degrees when the matter surfaced through a news report of an American newspaper.
The opposition leader asked for taking up the resolution out of turn but the chair adjourned the proceedings saying that there was not a single provincial minister was present in the house and the scam was already discussion in the media and the resolution could not be taken up without debate.
The government business could not be taken up during the Wednesday sitting as there was not a single minister present in the provincial legislature, while the Opposition staged walkout to register protest against the absence of the ministers.
Zaeem Qadri, provincial government’s spokesman on the directions of the chair brought back the opposition members to the house. During this episode in the house both sides of the political chanted slogans against each other’s leadership. They chanted slogans “Go Nawaz Go” and “Ro Imran Ro”.
Earlier, during the question hour on agriculture department, Dr Farrakh Javed, Provincial Agriculture Minister, while admitting that the farmers of rice and cotton had not been given the fair price for their crops, claimed that federal government had assured the provincial government of on-time involvement of Trading Corporation of Pakistan next time for the selling of cotton crop. Similarly, the rice farmers would be compensated next time, he added.