PA in commotion over uncontrolled dengue epidemic

LAHORE:Opposition members in Punjab Assembly on Friday accused the PTI government, especially the chief minister and health minister, of being responsible for the out of control dengue epidemic in the province and leaving the masses at the mercy of unabated lawlessness, putting the lives of millions of people at serious risk.

However, the health minister and the law minister refuted the charges and held the opposition leadership responsible for creating conditions that bred dengue and lawlessness in the province. The trading of charges led to confrontation in which both sides raised slogans against each other’s leaderships, calling each other corrupt and incapable of governance. The opposition members also accused the deputy speaker of being biased against it and allowing government ministers to run the affairs of the House in violation of the rules and procedure. They raised slogans against the deputy speaker.

The session convened on the requisition of the opposition was chaired by deputy speaker Sardar Dost Mohammad Mazari. At the outset, PML-N‘s Khwaja Imran Nazir alleged that the PTI government was not taking serious measures to control the dengue epidemic which had so far affected over 14,000 people, hitting dozens of them fatally. He said the government had so far only transferred officials, including the Deputy Commissioners of Lahore and Rawalpindi, instead of holding the health minister responsible for the uncontrolled spread of denuge, since she had failed to take preventive measures several months in advance. He said the measures which should have been taken seven months ago, were being taken today, but the chief minister was oblivious of the gravity of the situation. Khwaja Imran recalled that Shahbaz Sharif used to monitor the dengue situation round the clock and hold meetings regarding controlling measures several hours every day.

Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid alleged that opposition was spreading disinformation about dengue and accused Khwaja Imran Nazir of speaking a pack of lies before the House on the matter. She recalled that when dengue first hit the province in 2011, it caused 370 deaths, and when it returned in 2015 only Rawalpindi region reported over four thousand cases. She said the government had issued directives to the DCs before the start of the epidemic and in Rawalpindi so far 4,800 cases of dengue were reported. She told the House that government began free treatment of dengue patients in collaboration with the private sector.

She said only 33 patients of dengue were treated in Lahore, adding that in every meeting, the chief minister began his discussion with the dengue situation. She said the PML-N government had left hundreds of vacancies of doctors, while the PTI government began appointments of doctors soon after coming to power to improve the health situation. She said that Pakistan Kidney and Liver Transplant Institute (PKLI) had conducted three liver transplants, while the institute has 67 dialysis units and it has treated over 28000 kidney patients during last year.

The refutations led to a rumpus as both sides began sloganeering and accusing each other’s leaderships. Meanwhile, the law minister began tabling the official business which also irked the opposition members who alleged that it was illegal and in violation of the rules of procedure that the government should bring official business in a session called on opposition’s request.

PML-N’s Malik Ahmad Khan asked the speaker to refer to certain rules in this regard and stop the official business immediately, adding that no official business was on the agenda either. The deputy speaker replied that he was running the House according to the rules and regulations.

Former deputy speaker Rana Mashhood Khan warned the speaker that since the session was on opposition’s requisition and had no official business on the agenda, therefore, any official business would be deemed as on the discretion of the deputy speaker alone. The law minister rose to lay down the bills regarding Rawalpindi University and Mianwali University, while the opposite members kept opposing the chair for allowing the official business. Law Minister Raja Basharat said in the past PML-N government had also tabled official business in the sessions called on opposition’s request.

To this, former speaker Rana Iqbal Khan told the House that during his tenure as speaker the opposition had never requisitioned for convening the session. During the commotion, the deputy speaker prorogued the session for an indefinite period.