LAHORE: Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has said the government is launching a historic welfare scheme of Naya Pakistan Sehat Card from the next month for seven divisions, while families in Dera Ghazi Khan and Sahiwal divisions have already been given the health card facility.

In a statement issued here on Sunday, the chief minister said in the first phase of the scheme being launched next month, families in Lahore division would be offered the health card facility, followed by the remaining six divisions.

“Every family in Punjab will be having health card facility that will offer treatment cost up to Rs1 million per annum,” the chief minister said.

Mr Buzdar said the initiative was a big step towards ‘Naya Pakistan’ and the completion of another promise made by Prime Minister Imran Khan to the nation.

He said the budget of the health sector was Rs169 billion in the previous government, while the present one made a substantial increase and allocated Rs399bn in this sector.

For the first time in Punjab, he said, such a hefty amount had been allocated for the improvement of the health sector, besides setting up eight mother and child hospitals in the backward districts and Lahore.

He chided the opposition parties for “only doing politics on non-issues” as they had no agenda.

He said there was a chaos in the opposition’s ranks and “rejected elements” and they were just criticising the government to gain political mileage.

He said those levelling “baseless allegations” against the government should first look into their pockets which were soaked in corruption.

He said the politics of those who had ruthlessly looted the country had ended forever and the era of fooling the people with hollow slogans had passed.

Mr Buzdar said the present government had completed those developmental projects which the previous governments could not initiate in years. “No one will be allowed to create hindrance in the way of development,” the chief minister warned.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2021