‘Govt paying special attention to provision of modern health facilities’

Rawalpindi: Minister for Railways, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed on Thursday said that the government was paying special attention to the provision of modern health facilities to the citizens.

Addressing a ceremony, organized here at District Headquarters Hospital, he said the incumbent government was spending billions of rupees for up-gradation of existing health facilities and establishment of new projects.

The minister announced that new Emergency and Children blocks would be set up at District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital at a cost of Rs800 million, adding, earnest efforts would also be made to provide the land of Rose Cinema and Islamia Girls High School to the hospital.

He informed that Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar would lay foundation stone of the new blocks soon. Newly established Women University Sixth Road, Satellite Town is now fully operational, he said adding, Government Viqar-un-Nisa College would also be upgraded and made a women university. He announced that two more colleges would be established in Khayaban-e-Sir Syed and Raheem Abad, this year.

Sh. Rasheed said, a new children block would also be set up in Railway Hospital at a cost of Rs400 million and the project would be launched next week. All roads and streets of the city which are in dilapidated condition would be constructed within next two years, he said and informed the participants that the government was also focusing on water shortage issues.

A new pipeline at a cost of Rs2.4 billion would be laid to bring water from Ghazi Brotha which would help end water shortage problem in Rawalpindi city. The Railway Minister said that an International University would be set up at the land of Carriage Factory.

He expressed the hope that the construction work on Mother and Child Hospital project would be completed by the end of this month. Mainline-1 (ML-1) project would prove a game changer for the entire region and its tender would be issued by September 20, he said and informed that Leh Expressway project worth Rs70 billion would be built on Built-Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis.