Pakistan spends Rs1.6 bn on welfare projects in Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD: The Government of Pakistan spent Rs1.6 billion on welfare projects in Afghanistan over and above allocated last year’s budget. The budget documents reveal that the foreign ministry spent Rs45 million on media campaign to generate positive public opinion in Afghanistan.

For construction of Naeb Aminullah Khan Logari Hospital, Logar, Afghanistan, Rs203 million was spent;  200-bed Jinnah Hospital in Kabul incurred Rs160 million; Nishtar Kidney Centre, Jalalabad, cost Rs36.5 million; Liaquat Ali Khan Engineering Faculty Block in Bulkh University, Mazar-e-Sharif, incurred Rs25 million. A 1,000-student hostel for Rehman Baba School, Kabul, was constructed for Rs23.87 million.

Another Rs600 million was spent on procurement and installation of medical equipment for three hospitals in Afghanistan. For award of 3,000 scholarships to student from Afghanistan under Prime Minister’s directive, a sum of Rs560 million was spent from the supplementary grant. Afghan scholarships at Lahore University of Management Sciences cost Rs10.44 million to the government.