State Minister for Information & Broadcasting Farrukh Habib said on Wednesday that universal health cards (Insaf Sehat cards) was one of the best programmes launched by the PTI government which would introduce a new culture of free and equal treatment to all and sundry.
Addressing the Sehat cards launching ceremony for Faisalabad division at University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF), he said that 3200,000 families and 15 million individuals would enjoy this unprecedented facility in four districts of the division including Faisalabad, Jhang, Toba Tek Singh and Chiniot.
He paid best tributes to the legendary and approach-making personality of Prime Minister Imran Khan and said that he had deep respect for the common people and was trying his best to facilitate them despite the economic crunch.
He said that he brought laurel for the country by winning historic world cricket cup. This achievement was followed by the establishment of Cancer Hospital – Shaukat Khanum – and now this flagship project of health facility had been inaugurated.
He said that two million people had so far been treatment under the programme across the country including 0.9 million people from Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (KP), 0.7 million people from Punjab and 0.4 million individuals from Islamabad and Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK).
He further said that insurance companies had so far paid claims of Rs 46 billion under the scheme. He said that Imran Khan was committed to serve the masses particularly to the people of neglected segments. He criticized the past rulers and said that they failed to provide this most fundamental facility to the masses as they were in the habit of proceeding abroad for their treatment.
He said that Imran Khan had to “live and die” in this country. Hence his attachment with the people was just natural. He said that 900 hospitals in Pakistan would extend medical facility to 40 million families while 180 million individuals would enjoy the free medical cover.
He said the PTI government had taken four major steps including 10 billion tree tsunami programme which was appreciated at the global level. He said the second major project was Ehsaas programme for which Rs 260 billion had been earmarked to provide much-needed succor and relief to 70 million individuals.
The third one was unique and innovative strategy of smart lockdown to preserve jobs and continue the industrial wheel side by side during corona when the developed economies were opting for complete lockdown. He said that Pakistan also stood among three top countries where life was returning back to normal after corona.
He said that fourth major programme was health card which would completely change the health structure of Pakistan by providing equal treatment opportunities to the individuals in this country. The impact of these schemes would spread on next many decades and centuries, he added.
He also paid best tributes to the Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar and said that instead of lofty claims and cosmetic steps like previous chief minister, Buzdar had allocate Rs 400 billion to provide health insurance to the people in the province. Similarly, he allocated record amount of Rs.750 billion for development projects in addition to establishing 19 universities and constructing and renovating roads.
He said that Sardar Usman Buzdar was ranked first among all chief ministers in Pakistan as he was working humbly without projecting and boosting his claims of “serving the masses”. He said that past rulers who looted and plundered the country must land into the jail as they failed to serve and facilitate the masses. Earlier, a documentary on health cover scheme was also screened.
