PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has said that Sehat Ka Insaf programme is now being extended to Mardan and other districts of the province after its success in Peshawar.

Talking to a delegation of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) activists and notables from Mardan led by MPA Mohammad Zahid Durrani here at the CM Secretariat on Wednesday, Mr Khattak urged the party activists and office-bearers to extend full cooperation to the volunteers working to immunise children against nine fatal diseases. He made it clear that polio could be prevented from becoming endemic only with hard work.

Otherwise, he cautioned that Pakistani nationals could face travel restriction abroad. He said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was giving special attention to provision of health facilities to masses. He said that only healthy and disease-free society could guarantee national development. The chief minister said that free emergency services had been extended to all district headquarters hospitals while deficiency of staff and equipments in all health centres was being fulfilled to provide better treatment facilities to people at local level.

He issued on the spot directives for conducting inquiry into substandard construction of streets in Sheikh Maltoon Township, Mardan, during the previous government and redressal of demands related to health and cleanliness. He said that a programme to ensure public participation-based health, cleanliness and municipal services was also under the government consideration.

The chief minister said that the government had completed preparations for the local government elections, which could be held on a short notice. Under the new LG system, the powers to oversee working of almost all departments, including health and education, will be transferred to village and union councils besides municipalities.

He said that besides other steps for the local governments, 30 per cent resources of the provincial government had been transferred to them.

In response to a demand for provision of sports facilities, Mr Khattak said that a programme for construction of a sports stadium at every tehsil level had been started and work on it was in progress in 76 tehsils of the province.

He said that in the next phase a programme would be launched for construction of sports stadium in every provincial assembly constituency, to be followed by such programmes at union council level.