LAHORE, Nov 26: President Pervez Musharraf said on Saturday he would play his role in ensuring provision of basic amenities like health, education, clean drinking water and electricity to the masses. In this respect, the president added, he would be visiting different districts to take stock of the situation.
Speaking at the Fatima Jinnah Medical College (FJMC) convocation here, Musharraf said 70 per cent of country’s population living in rural areas was poor and deserved special attention.
Better healthcare, according to him, was atop government priorities with special emphasis on primary and secondary health.
Musharraf said before 1999 the focus of official health policy had been the tertiary healthcare while basic health units, rural health centres and civil hospitals at tehsil and district headquarters were in bad shape.
“Realising that health policy was misdirected, we took corrective measures to ensure that thrust is on primary and secondary healthcare. However, there is still a long way to go as our standing in health and education sectors is not reflective of our status as nuclear state.”
He referred to the recently-introduced President’s Health Initiative as one of the major steps taken to improve the standard of health and education facilities.
Under this programme, he said, the Punjab government’s ‘successful experiment’ of a cluster of BHUs would be replicated across the country.
Appreciating the Punjab government’s programme, he said three basic health units were put under one doctor who was given attractive remuneration.
The Punjab chief minister, he said, deserved credit for launching this programme and now doctors should have no hesitation in going to rural areas.
Referring to last month’s earthquake, the president said Pakistan was now in relief and rehabilitation phases in which doctors’ role was vital. He called upon young graduates to come forward to serve in quake-hit areas as volunteers, saying that the government would provide them lodging and boarding.
Responding to recommendations and demands raised by college principal Prof Muhammad Akbar, the president announced a grant of Rs10 million. He promised to direct the Higher Education Commission to increase funds for reputed institutions.
He asked the Punjab University vice-chancellor present on the occasion to increase FJMC allocation from the HEC grant.
In his welcome address, the principal announced tuition fee exemption, free books and various other facilities for the AJK students studying in the college.
Earlier, the president gave away medals to students.
Begum Sehba Musharraf, Governor Khalid Maqbool, Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi and Health Minister Dr Tahir Ali Javed were also present on the occasion.
AITCHISON: Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the multi-purpose sports complex at the Aitchison College, Musharraf underscored the need for character building.
The president noted that national character had been a key factor in the progress of the rich and developed countries. “If we aspire to emulate them, then we must build a strong national character.”
He said three elements necessary for character building were honesty, truthfulness and contentment.
Speaking on official efforts to promote education, the president said it was concentrating on enhancing skills and technical education. For this purpose, a technical education and skill authority was being established.
The government, he said, had decided to revise the education syllabus to gear it towards its modern-day requirements.
Noting the problem of Urdu vs English, the president said the national syllabus would deal with this issue in such a way that both subjects were developed side by side and students faced no difficulty in adopting the two languages as medium of instruction. The president also hinted at using the army manpower to assist in providing the missing facilities at educational institutions across the country.
Dear visitor, the comments section is undergoing an overhaul and will return soon.