Skip to main content

KP health dept seeks over Rs10b to purchase equipment for hospitals

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department wrote on Friday to the finance department, demanding release of Rs10.613 billion for purchase of equipment for hospitals, including the long-delayed Peshawar Institute of Cardiology (PIC) project.

Senior government officials in Peshawar told The News KP Health Secretary Abid Majeed wrote the letter to the provincial finance department. He sought the release of Rs10.613 billion that the provincial cabinet had approved on October 26, 2017, but made it conditional to the availability of funds.

The demand was made after recent breakthrough in talks between Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak in Islamabad last Wednesday. The two amicably resolved the issue of net hydel profit arrears.

“The Cabinet had already approved this amount and now when KP receives the first installment of Rs25 billion by December 10, the health department sent an official letter to the finance department to release it after receiving the amount from the federal government,” said a senior government official in Peshawar.

The federal government owed Rs32.227 billion to the KP government in 2016-17 as net hydel profit and other arrears.

The Council of Common Interests (CCI) and other relevant forums had endorsed this amount, but the payment was not made on time due to cold relations between Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz-led government at the Centre and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government in KP.

Many people believe that it was due to inefficiency of the chief minister and his team that KP was deprived of own funds that delayed development in the province.

The senior government officials said the federal government had agreed to release Rs25 billion to the KP government by December 10, this year and the remaining amount in January and February next year.

Out of Rs10.613 billion, the health secretary has sought Rs2.04 billion for the long-awaited Peshawar Institute of Cardiology.

Work on the building has been completed but it needed a huge amount for procurement of equipment for the cardiology hospital to provide all services to patients.

A six-party coalition government of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal government in 2005 had announced setting up of the PIC but failed to provide funds for the project. The previous ANP-PPP government provided some funds and built a portion of the building.

Senior cardiologist Dr Mohammad Hafizullah was its project director while cardiac surgeon Dr Riaz Anwar worked as deputy project director.

Both are stated to have utilised their energies, but they couldn’t convince the federal and provincial governments to provide the required funds for completion of the project.

Dr Riaz Anwar is said to have used his personal car and spent own resources and time on making several trips to Islamabad for meetings with the federal government in the hope of bringing some funds for the project.

A senior government told The News that within a month they would get the first installment of Rs25 billion from the federal government that would help accelerate work on ongoing projects in the province.

The government recently notified a separate Board of Governors (BoG) for PIC to expedite selection process and purchase equipment for the cardiac centre.

The health department has sought Rs600 million for equipment procurement for the Institute of Kidney Disease (IKD) in Hayatabad, Rs2 billion for purchase of equipment of newly constructed building of Saidu Teaching Hospital Swat, Rs2.714 billion for equipment purchase of newly built Casualty Block in the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH), Rs235 million for equipment of the Postgraduate Medical Institute (PGMI) in Hayatabad, Rs2.264 billion for equipment of newly constructed medical and allied services building in the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) Peshawar and Rs400 million for equipment of newly constructed building for Hepatitis Centre in Nishtarabad, Peshawar.

Chief Secretary Mohammad Azam Khan on Friday approved Rs3 billion for procurement of equipment for the district headquarters hospitals, tehsil headquarters hospitals, rural health centres and basic health units of the province. The provincial cabinet has approved this amount and the finance department agreed to release the funds.

The chief secretary approved Rs227.30 million for the LRH for installation of fire-fighting network system in the hospital.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

K-Electric fined Rs2 mn over weak power supply system

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Wednesday imposed a fine of Rs2 million on the K-Electric. According to a statement issued by the power regulatory authority, the K-Electric was penalized over non-compliance of performance standards, particularly its failure to restore power supply within the prescribed time frame and to ensure the safety of public in Karachi. Quoting media reports, it said large swathes of Karachi remained without electricity due to the tripping of almost 700 feeders during rainy weather in June last year, which resulted in long power blackouts ranging from 24 hours to 48 hours in almost 50% areas of Karachi. Further, there were also reports of fatal injuries to some people owing to electrocution. The Nepra took notice of the situation in Karachi and directed the K-Electric to immediately provide a detailed report on the tripping of feeders and electrocution incidents along with preventive and corrective steps taken by K-Elec...

10 creepy celebrity wax statues

Waxworks of celebrities, sports persons and politicians such as Tom Cruise, Barack Obama and Christiano Ronaldo are admired by people all over the world. The craft requires taking careful and accurate measurements to create these wax statues, which are then polished and perfected to make for an exact replica. Madame Tussaud’s is one of the most famous museums in the world that displays wax statues, however, not all wax museums in the world craft flawless statues. Compiled from Cosmopolitan India , here is a list of the creepiest celebrity wax statues. Barack Obama PHOTO: COSMOPOLITAN David and Victoria Beckham PHOTO: COSMOPOLITAN Jennifer Aniston PHOTO: COSMOPOLITAN Beyonce’s wax statue sparks outrage Jennifer Lopez PHOTO: COSMOPOLITAN Justin Bieber PHOTO: COSMOPOLITAN Justin Timberlake PHOTO: COSMOPOLITAN Aamir Khan PHOTO: COSMOPOLITAN Katrina Kaif PHOTO: COSMOPOLITAN London’s Tussauds gets to work on Trump wax figure Selena Gomez PHOTO: C...

Accountability court hears assets case against Ishaq Dar

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in Islamabad on Wednesday resumed the hearing of a reference filed against former finance minister Ishaq Dar by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for allegedly accumulating assets beyond his known sources of income.  Judge Muhammad Bashir is recording the statement of a prosecution witness, Ishtiaq Ahmed. At the previous hearing, the accountability judge had reserved his verdict on an application filed by two co-accused seeking acquittal in the case. Naeem Mehmood and Mansoor Rizvi, who are directors of Dar’s companies, had filed the application requesting the judge to exonerate them from all charges for want of evidence. Qazi Misbah, the counsel for the two co-accused, contended the prosecution has failed to provide compelling evidence to prove the allegations leveled against his clients. The third co-accused President National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Saeed Ahmed, had already filed an application before the court for his acquittal wh...