CHAKWAL: Chief Minister Usman Buzdar during his maiden visit to Chakwal launched a number of projects on Wednesday.

He arrived here to attend a ceremony held to distribute health cards among deserving citizens of Chakwal and Jhelum districts.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Buzdar said 436,000 people of Chakwal would benefit from the health cards and a holder of the card could get treatment up to Rs720,000.

“Through these health cards, 30pc people of Chakwal and 27pc of Jhelum district would be benefitted,” he said, adding 35 million people of the province would be able to get free treatment of eight major diseases through the health cards.

Says 99 schemes would be launched in the district at a cost of Rs26bn

“After 27 years we are now going to establish nine hospitals in different areas of the province this year. We have also increased health budget by 30pc,” he claimed and announced to establish a new District Headquarters Hospital in Chakwal and a Tehsil Headquarters Hospital in Lawa.

“The previous government did not build a hospital in Lawa in 10 years,” he said.

He also said 100 tehsil hospitals in the province would be upgraded and made model hospitals where trauma centres would also be established.

Mr Buzdar also said 99 projects would be launched in Chakwal and would be completed at a cost of Rs26 billion. He also said Rs8 billion had been allocated under the Annual Development Programme by federal government for making Talagang-Mianwali Road a dual carriageway.

The chief minister also laid the foundations of a new BS Block at Government Postgraduate College Chakwal and recreational and water sport resorts at Dhoke Tahlian and Dharabi dams. He also inaugurated Government Degree College for Women Bhagwal.

Later, Mr Buzdar visited the City Hospital in Talagang and inspected its different departments.

He said all vacant posts in the hospital would be filled and a dialysis machine would be provided to the hospital.

“Rescue 1122 would be introduced in Talagang,” he said, claiming a trauma centre would also be established in the town.

A trauma centre built at a cost of Rs260 million could not be made functional even after three years of its completion in Kallar Kahar as no surgeon was ready to join it despite repeated advertisement by the previous government.

Consequently, the previous government had to turn the trauma centre into the tehsil headquarters hospital despite the fact that it was equipped with modern machinery necessary for a trauma centre.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2019