ISLAMABAD: The federal health minister has asked authorities to complete the Polyclinic hospital expansion project in Sector G-11/3 `before the deadline`, as the project`s cost increased from Rs9.9 billion in 2023 to Rs16 billion.

The foundation of the project was laid in March 2023 by thenhealth minister Abdul Qadir Patel. At that time, it was announced that the 300-bed extension, worth Rs9.91 billion, would be completed in three years.

Now, the project has been expanded into a 400-bed hospital, leading to an increased cost.

During his visit to the construction site, the minister was given a detailed briefing by theproject director from the Punjab Infrastructure Development Authority, which provided a detailed briefing on the project`s current status and scope.

Highlighting the importance of the initiative, the health minister emphasised that it was a critical public health project that must be expedited.

`This project must not be delayed. We must increase the number of workers and ensure round-the-clock construction to complete the project before the deadline,` the minister said during the site inspection. `I will return next week to monitor the progress. The hospital must be completed ahead of the given deadline,` he said. According to the minister, Islamabad is a growing metropolitan city with a rapidly increasing population, leading to mounting pressure onexisting healthcare facilities.

`The construction of this hospital will significantly benefit not only the residents of Islamabad but also from surrounding areas,` he stated. `We cannot afford any delays in such an essential healthcare project.

However, the government has only allocated Rs200 million for this project in the budget announced earlier this week.

There is no clarity on how much money has been sanctioned since the announcement of this hospital.

It is pertinent to mention that Polyclinic was established as a pioneer services hospital in 1966 and had only eight beds for emergency, surgery, medicine and gynae. The objective of the Polyclinic was to provide free and high-quality healthcare services to the federal governmentemployees. At the moment, there are almost 600 beds dedicated to primary, secondary and tertiary curative care services for the federal government employees.

In 2008, it was decided to construct another building on onethird of the park land (2.5 acres), which is located in front of the hospital. However, the project became controversial when the health ministry realised that the park was named after Argentina. Then in March 2023, the health minister laid the foundation stone of the G-11 extension project, worth Rs9.91 billion. He had announced that the project would be completed in three years.

Immunisation Meanwhile, Mustafa Kamalemphasised strengthening Pakistan`s Immunisation Programme for a healthier future for children.

He was visiting the Federal Directorate of Immunisation (FDI) to review its operations, performance, achievements and challenges faced by the Expanded Programme on Immunisation.

FDI Director General Dr Soofia Yunus informed the minister that over 9,000 health centres were engaged in delivering routine immunisations nationwide.

Minister Kamal instructed that vacant positions should be advertised immediately and filled with qualified and competent professionals through a transparent recruitment process.

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2025