HALA: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday said that the Sindh government had spent Rs100 billion on “revolutionary” steps being taken in the provincial health sector which was an example for other provinces.

“PPP government always tries to focus on health and education sectors, besides providing jobs to youth,” he said.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari was speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony of Makhdoom Mohammad Zaman Talibul Maula Medical College and Teaching Hospital in Hala which was held on the occasion of the second death anniversary of former PPP-Parliamentarians president Makhdoom Amin Fahim.

He said that it was a proud moment for him that he was visiting Hala for the ground-breaking of the medical college.

Amin Fahim remembered on 2nd death anniversary

“The state and governments are under obligation to provide basic health and education facilities to people because quality education free of cost and healthcare are their fundamental rights.” He expressed hope that this medical college and hospital would produce a new generation of doctors and would provide quality health facilities to the people of this area which they deserved. He said that facilities like the Shaheed Mohtarma Ben­azir Bhutto Trauma Centre in Kara­chi, CyberKnife radio-surgery unit for cancer patients, bone marrow transplant unit and the children hospital at the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation were prominent initiatives of the PPP government.

He said that PPP government established many healthcare facilities in the interior of Sindh which had earlier been seen in Karachi alone. In this regard, he mentioned the ambulance service launched in 23 districts of the province, the Advance Emergency Centre set up at the Government Hospital Liaqu­at­abad, Shaheed Mohtarma Ben­azir Bhutto Skin Disease Comp­lex in Larkana, and Paediatric Centre as well as the Kidney, Liver and Cardiac Hospital in Mirpurkhas to name a few. He said that kidney transplant centre in Sukkur and cardiac hospitals on the pattern of NICVD in Tando Mohammad Khan and Larkana were being established to provide free-of-cost treatment.

The PPP chairman said that this college and hospital was being founded in the name of Makhdoom Mohammad Zaman Talibul Maula who was a political leader and poet. PPP was founded in Lahore but its first convention was held in Hala which was hosted by Talibul Maula, he recalled, and said that the bond between PPP and Bhutto family and Makhdoom family remained intact since then.

He said PPP was not an ordinary or conventional political party but rather a family with an ideology. Its ideology talked about freedom of people, helping the poor, equality in rights for women and religious minorities, he said.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari paid glowing tributes to Makhdoom Mohammad Amin Fahim who upheld the traditions set by his father.

He said that Fahim’s relations with Benazir Bhutto were a golden chapter in PPP’s history. Gen Zia tried to win over Talibul Maula and Gen Musharraf tried to win over Amin Fahim. “Both of our elders refused to sell their loyalties, he said. He said his mother Benazir Bhutto always trusted Amin Fahim’s loyalty, who stood with the party through thick and thin. He said he always held Amin Fahim in high esteem, who reciprocated it with his love for him. “I cannot forget meeting Amin Fahim in hospital. I and you [Makhdoom Jamiluz­zaman] uphold the same tradition. We both will take struggle of our elders forward to make Pakistan progre­ssive,” he said, adding: “[Late] Makhdoom Sahib! We cannot forget you because you live in our hearts”.

Makhdoom Jamiluzzaman said his father was a man of principles and believed in ethics. He said that his far-sightedness and loyalty were unparalleled. Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Senior Minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani and other PPP leaders also paid tributes to Amin Fahim.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2017