RAWALPINDI: Ministry for Railways Muhammad Hanif Abbasi has announced that railway hospitals and 14 schools across the country will be outsourced due to their deteriorating conditions.

“The plight of railway hospitals is not good,” Mr Abassi said, while addressing a reception hosted by UC-14 Nazim Chengiz Khan, Bahadur Khan and Chaudhry Shahzeb Khan Barzada. “Instead of providing relief to the people, their doctors prescribe vaccines worth Rs50,000 to be purchased from outside.”

He said the government has decided to outsource the hospitals and schools “keeping in view their sorry state of affairs.”

The reception was attended by Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Production Usama Ashfaq Sarwar, former mayor Sardar Naseem, Punjab Assembly members Ziaullah Shah, Malik Iftikhar Ahmed, Raja Hanif Advocate, Asma Naz Abbasi and Rifaat Abbasi, along with local leaders of the PML-N and former union council officials.

Mr Abassi emphasised the accountability in Pakistan Railways, saying, “There is no room for negligent employees in Pakistan Railways anymore.”

He added that after accepting the demands of 58,000 employees, including overtime, workers must now “ensure their attendance daily under the digital biometric system” and “work hard and diligently as a team” to turn the Railways into a profitable and exemplary institution.

Mr Abbasi credited the ruling party for building a network of schools, colleges, and sports fields in Rawalpindi.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2025