Imran Khan calls for more spending on education, health

Says metros, orange train cannot help in economic development; inaugurates two-day conference at KMU

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) head Imran Khan on Saturday urged the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to allocate maximum funds for education and health sectors as nations were not developed by making buildings, metros and Orange Line trains.

“Construction of buildings, metros and orange trains and borrowing funds don’t develop nations. It is the investment in human capital that provides an opportunity to the nations to develop,” Imran Khan stressed while addressing as chief guest at the inaugural session of the two-day national conference on “Advances in Cancer and Haematology” at the Khyber Medical University (KMU).

He later laid the foundation stone for the Institute of Nursing and Paramedical Sciences at the KMU, which is the lone public sector medical university in the province.

Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, PTI General Secretary Jehangir Khan Tareen, Vice- Chancellor KMU Prof Dr Mohammad Hafizullah and director IBMS Prof Dr Jawad Ahmad along with others were also present on the occasion.

Imran Khan said they would have to keep health and education on top of their priority lists by spending more on human development to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

“I am proud of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and his cabinet that on our directive they spent maximum funds on health and education,” Imran Khan said amid applause in the jam-packed hall of the university.

He said the physical infrastructure of Germany and Japan was completely destroyed in the World War-II but with the clear vision and investment on human capital they became the most developed countries of the world within 10 to 15 years.

“Metros, motorways and orange trains were just money-making projects. Being a poor nation we should focus on human resource development and it is the real investment,” the PTI chief said.

He added that he had decided to build the second major cancer hospital in Peshawar after realising that 23 percent of the patients coming to the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre in Lahore belonged to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“Somebody should have done research as to why patients suffering from cancer are increasing day by day in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They should have found out the reasons. Actually, it needed research and the research work required funds,” the PTI leader observed.

Imran Khan maintained that though they had diverted much of their resources towards health and education, he was still not satisfied with it. “We don’t have enough funds to be spent on the two important sectors of education and health,” he conceded. He said if his party was voted to power next time, he would personally collect money from Pakistanis and spend it on health and education. “I don’t dream of visiting different places around the world and have no wish to collect money for myself. With the grace of Allah, I am the only politician whom the nation has generously given money whenever I appealed to them,” Imran Khan declared.

He gave the example of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital in Peshawar and said he needed Rs1 billion for launching the construction work and was able to collect the money from the people.

“It was last year when we needed Rs800 million to buy some equipment for Shaukat Khanum Hospital in Peshawar. Again I made an appeal to the people and they gave us Rs900 million instead of Rs800 million as they believed their money would not be misused,” he said.

On Prof Mohammad Hafizullah’s demand for Rs250 million for the university, Imran Khan said that had he any official authority he would have given more than his demand for promoting medical research.

Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, while addressing the ceremony, appreciated the KMU’s progress and hoped that the recommendations of the conference and research done in the university would be utilised in the larger public interest.

He assured the university administration of full financial support on behalf of the provincial government.

Earlier, Prof Hafizullah talked about the past and present of the university and the progress and achievements it had made. He noted that the KMU was the youngest medical university and had eight constituent institutes in various disciplines of health.

He said all the medical and dental colleges as well as nursing institutes functioning in the public and private sector in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were affiliated with KMU.