MANSEHRA: Adviser to the KP chief minister on information Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani has said the government will allocate Rs7 billion more funds for the Sehat Insaf Cards to ensure provision of health facilities to all residents of the province.

“Our government has been spending Rs7 billion to provide health cover to half of population through the Sehat Insaf Cards and is serious about spending Rs7 billion more for the purpose to benefit the rest of the population,” he told a news conference at the press club here on Saturday.

Tehsil nazim Khurram Khan and PTI district president Babar Saleem Swati were also in attendance.

CM adviser says furniture being provided to schools

The CM’s adviser said PTI chief Imran Khan had zero tolerance for corruption, while the provincial government had promulgated a law on the right to information internationally accepted as a good move.

He said the PTI government had made Quran translation part of the syllabus for 5-12 grades and banned usury.

Mr Ghani said furniture was being provided to schools to benefit over 2.1 million schoolchildren getting education while sitting on the floor.

“We have provided furniture for almost 1.5 million schoolchildren and will provide furniture for the rest soon,” he said, adding that 15,000 classrooms had been built across the province.

The CM’s adviser said 7,000 government employees were sacked for corruption or poor performance.

He said the provincial government was taking the multibillion dollars China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project very seriously and that after all agreements were finalised with China, the Chinese people’s annual investment in the province would jump to around $40 billion.

Mr Ghani complained about the federal government’s five-year Fata merger plan and said it won’t bring about peace and development in the country.

“Terrorists penetrate into our ranks through Fata. Our police cannot establish its writ in tribal areas and therefore, the delay in the merger would provide terrorists with an incentive for next five years to serve own agenda. Our government is seriously thinking about taking up this issue with the federal government,” he said.

Mr Ghani criticised the Nato force based in Afghanistan for ‘poor performance’ and said if terrorists were regrouping and planning and executing terrorist activities in Afghanistan, then the Nato forces should leave the country for being blameworthy.

He said Chief Minister Pervez Khattak had formally received an invitation to attend the final Pakistan Super League match in Lahore but the latter won’t he attend the event.

“Our leader, Imran Khan, says if this mega event is held after virtually turning the entire Lahore city into a garrison town, we cannot ensure the revival of international cricket in our country,” he said.

The CM’s adviser also met with village and neighbourhood council nazims and assured them that the government would soon release non-developmental budget for the current financial year.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2017