TOBA TEK SINGH, Jan 31: There are no more free medicines from the zakat funds for indoor patients in the District Headquarters Hospital.

It was learnt on Thursday when a notice was displayed in the hospital outside the social welfare office which provided free medicines to the poor patients.

When contacted, an official told this correspondent that the patients were being provided medicines after purchasing from medical stores from zakat committee’s funds as these were not available in the government’s supplied list of the medicines for the hospital.

He said such patients were provided medicines from the fund at the ratio of Rs1,000 a patient a day, adding it was no more possible due to paucity of funds.

He urged the department to send more money to the hospital for the purpose.

Meanwhile, scores of poor patients were seen wandering outside the hospital to get their complaints communicated.

POULTRY: At least five million broiler breeders produce nearly 500,000 poultry birds a month in the province, livestock officials said in a seminar here on Thursday.

They claimed Toba Tek Singh, with 180 farms, was the biggest centre in the poultry sector in the province.

They advised the farmers to use both traditional and scientific methods to increase their poultry production.

District Coordination Officer (DCO) Saleem Akhtar Kiani, EDO (agriculture) Chaudhry Gulzar Ahmad, district officer (livestock) Shaikh Abdul Rahman, veterinary officer Dr Najmul Islam and DDO (livestock) Muhammad Ramzan were also present on the occasion.