‘Health cards’ first step towards establishment of ‘state of Medina’: CM

LAHORE: Terming the facility of free treatment through health cards as the first step towards the establishment of the State of Medina, Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar said on Wednesday that by March, 100% population of Punjab will have access to free treatment through New Pakistan National Health Card.

While addressing the launch ceremony of ‘New Pakistan National Health Card Programme’ in the Faisalabad division, the CM said that the PTI government has the honour of working hard in the health sector and Punjab is an ideal province in terms of health facilities. After the launch in Faisalabad, the sixth division of Punjab, 73% of the population has, now, access to Health Card and by March, 100% of the people of Punjab will have access to free treatment.

While giving a detail of the healthcare initiatives of the provincial government, he said the Faisalabad Institute of Cardiology was being upgraded at a cost of Rs580 million.

The DHQ hospital in Faisalabad was being upgraded at a cost of Rs400 million, he added. A new district headquarters hospital of 125-bed capacity would be constructed in Chiniot, he said adding, “A trauma center, dialysis center, burn center and surgical ward will be set up at Toba Tek Singh’s district headquarters hospital.”

The CM asserted that the journey of public service would be continued under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Moreover, the CM has condemned the ban on entry of hijab-wearing students into educational institutions in India and said that the hijab-clad Miskan Khan has demoralized the extremists by giving a clear message of not being afraid of them. “I salute her and pay tribute to the courage of this hijab-clad student who chanted the slogan of ‘Allah Akbar’ in front of the crowd,” he said.

In a statement, CM Usman Bazdar said the incident of harassment of a hijab-clad student by Hindu extremists in Karnataka has, again, exposed the Hindu supremacist Modi regime.

Hijab is the cultural identity of Muslim women and choice of dress is a basic right of every human being, he stressed. Any ban on wearing a hijab is equivalent to bigotry and apartheid as well as a negation of constitutional rights, he added.

He stated that Modi has pushed India back by promoting religious extremism and history would never forgive Modi and his fanatic cabal for their imbecilities.

India is burning in the pyre of extremism and it is sanguine that conscientious segments have risen up against the ban on wearing hijab and are raising their voices against Modi’s narrow-mindedness, concluded the CM.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022