Minister stresses emergency wards upgrade

LAHORE: Provincial Minister for Health Dr Yasmin Rashid has said geographical demarcated infrastructure in health sector was top priority to ensure better facilities for patients.

According to a handout, she said this during two separate briefings by Specialised Healthcare & Medical Education Secretary Saqib Zafar and Primary & Secondary Healthcare Secretary Ali Bahadur Qazi. Dr. Yasmin Rashid was also briefed about the matters of Punjab Health Insurance Management Company (PHIMC). Dr Yasmin said to upgrade the emergencies of the public hospitals of the province was our top priority as patients suffer the most during their process of treatment at emergency. She herself made a call at (1033) helpline of command & control center of primary & secondary healthcare department and asked about the facilities provided through this helpline.

Saqib Zafar apprised the minister about dengue emergency response and thalassemia programme, health insurance card and referral system. The minister said that with consultation of all the stakeholders, concrete steps would be taken for up gradation of health facilities in the present hospitals framework as well as introducing health sector reforms. She said that she would soon visit both the health departments and directed the secretaries concerned to prepare a comprehensive briefing about their departments.

meetings: Punjab School Education Minister Murad Rass will be holding division-wise meetings with heads of District Education Authorities (DEAs) to discuss their issues and proposed solutions, starting from Wednesday (today). The minister will start from Lahore division while the meeting with heads of DEAs of Faisalabad and Sargodha divisions will be held on Thursday, Gujranwala on Friday, Multan & Bahawalpur on Monday and Dera Ghazi Khan, Rawalpindi & Sahiwal divisions on Tuesday. School Education Department (SED) Punjab has directed chief executive officers of DEAs to attend the meetings personally along with presentation on issues and their proposed solutions.

irrigation water: Punjab Minister for Irrigation Mohsin Leghari has stressed the need for curtailing the distribution network losses in the Punjab irrigation system.

According to a handout issued on Tuesday, the minister stated this while chairing a high-level meeting which held at irrigation secretariat. He said: “While construction of new reservoirs is one of the viable solutions, we must not lose sight of the fact that our irrigation system wastes more than 35 per cent water in the form of conveyance losses.” He exhorted the Punjab irrigation management to curtail these losses through improved de-silting, lining of channels and curbing water theft. The minister stressed the need to develop a concrete plan in coordination with the agriculture department to promote efficient water use to ensure that wheat farmers are not affected by water shortage in the coming Rabi season. He said that water scarcity had become very much an existential crisis for Pakistan and therefore, “we need to scale up efforts to meet this challenge through rainwater harvesting, efficient use of water resources, better groundwater management and increased spending on water sector.” While highlighting the need for protecting the aquifer of the province, the minister instructed the department to expedite work on draft of groundwater regulation act which is likely to introduce regulation for groundwater exploitation for industrial, commercial and urban usage. He instructed the irrigation department engineers to develop schemes to harvest runoff water from hill torrents of Rajanpur and DG Khan so that the floods could be used for irrigation and drinking supply for the people of the area. On this occasion, Secretary Irrigation Sher Alam Mehsud gave a detailed presentation about ongoing projects including mega projects such as rehabilitation of the age-old barrages and major canal systems. The minister was informed about the challenges faced by the water sector in the province.

App adds: Provincial Minister for Labour and Manpower, Anser Majeed Niazi on Tuesday said that the government would take every possible step to eliminate all forms of bonded labour from the province.

"We have a comprehensive plan to get rid of this inhuman practice. We intend to enrol maximum number of children working at kilns in schools," he added. Talking to a delegation of labourers, he said, bonded labour was a longstanding issue which needed to be addressed on emergency basis, adding that the Punjab government would launch different projects for welfare of labour and their families.