RAWALPINDI: Punjab Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday expressed his indignation over the closure of some departments at Murree’s Tehsil Headquarters Hospital and ordered authorities to open them immediately.

He made these remarks during his visit to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital and a control room established at Jinnah Hall in Murree.

He reviewed treatment facilities being provided to the patients at the hospital and made a detailed inspection of the emergency, OPD, mother and child ward, pharmacy and other departments.

CM Naqvi also inquired after the patients and asked about medical facilities being provided to them.

He also inspected the extended project building of the hospital and directed for early functionalisation of the building.

The caretaker chief minister, by taking prompt notice of the shortage of nurses at the hospital, directed the management to overcome this shortage at the earliest. He asserted that the health department should initiate the induction process of nurses for vacant posts immediately.

He stated that only six nurses were discharging their duties against 29 approved posts of nurses and added that a hospital cannot function with merely six nurses.

The CM stated that directives have been to the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Minister Jamal Nasir to improve healthcare facilities, who was asked to “remain present in Murree till improvement of hospital affairs”. Mr Naqvi emphasised that the residents of Murree and tourists would be provided better health and treatment facilities and dialysis machines would be made functional.

The chief minister also visited the control room established at the Jinnah Hall and met with the staff members present over there.

He scolded staff members of the control room over non-functional cameras and ordered them to submit a report after making the cameras functional within 24 hours.

He said that facilities for the tourists visiting Murree would further be improved.

Mr Naqvi stressed that there was a need to improve the parking facility for tourists in the district and also ordered to take effective measures for the eradication of overcharging in Murree.

Mr Naqvi listened to the complaints of citizens in Murree and issued orders for prompt resolution of their complaints.

He also issued orders to the Rawalpindi commissioner for the improvement of healthcare and tourism facilities in Murree.

On the other hand, the district administration of Murree and Rawalpindi presented a “rosy picture” to the chief minister who asked them to make improvements within a week.

At present, Murree district is without a deputy commissioner and Rawalpindi’s deputy commissioner was working on an additional charge.

It may be noted that the primary reason behind creating a separate district of Murree was to provide access to the local population so they would not have to come to Rawalpindi for their issues regarding land revenue, healthcare, and education.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2023