Govt utilising each penny of public money in people’s interest: CM

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said he has been making all-out efforts to utilise every single penny of the public funds sagaciously to serve the public interest in the best possible manner.

He made this statement on Friday while speaking at the Cardiovascular Symposium organised by The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry at Federation House. He said no government hospital in the province had been working without funds and they were providing services to the public free of charge through funds collected through taxes.

The CM recalled that in July 2011, three hospitals — the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and National Institute of Child Health — were devolved to the Sindh government without a single penny. “Then secretary finance came to me [as I was the then Sindh finance minister] and said that funds for running these three hospitals have not been allocated in the budget but even then, the Sindh government spared Rs9 billion for the purpose,” he said, adding that even for the current year, his government had allocated Rs22 billion for these hospitals though they did not belong to the Sindh government legally.

Shah said that when the case of the three hospitals’ ownership was being heard in the Supreme Court, he called on Prime Minister Imran Khan with the request to run these hospitals with the same spirit as was being demonstrated by the Sindh government in case the decision of the court came in favour of the federal government. He added that the PM was kind enough to assure him that the hospitals would be run by the provincial government even if the court gave a verdict against the provincial government.

He disclosed that the the PM was very clear about affairs related to the operation and ownership of the hospitals, but some other people of the ruling party have been playing games in this regard.

Media talk

Replying to a question of a media person, the CM said he had reconstructed major and important roads in the city but Karachi was so large that the works done so far seemed to be not enough.

Shah said that the rain Karachi received on Wednesday submerged roads but within a few hours the rainwater was drained except in the Nagan Chowrangi area where the infrastructure of the Green Line BRT had blocked the disposal of rainwater.

To another question, he said he would remove encroachments from Korangi Industrial Area but the old villages located there could not be disturbed. Replying to another question, the CM said he would make improvements in the affairs of Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and Qatar Hospital.