SIALKOT, Jan 19: Three years have passed but no autonomy has yet been given to the two district headquarters hospitals due to reasons best known to the high-ups of the district government. The then district government had announced autonomy for Allama Iqbal Memorial and Sardar Begum Memorial hospitals by nazim Mian Naeem Javed. He had announced formation of a board of governors at a press conference to monitor their working.

He had announced setting up of drug banks in the hospitals where local bodies institutions had to provide medicines for provision to deserving people free of cost.

He told journalists that Rs21 million had been allocated for the construction, repair and renovation of the buildings of government health institutions in the district.

CRITICISM: Meanwhile, PML-N MNA Khwaja Asif, MPAs Engineer Imran Ashraf, Arshad Mahmood Baggu of the MMA and PPPP’s Malik Tahir Akhtar and leaders Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas and Qamar Abbas Chand strongly criticized the district government for failing to provide quality health facilities to the people.

They told journalists here on Thursday that no efforts have yet been made by the district government. They challenged the district government’s claim that it had purchase life saving and other drugs worth Rs40 million for DHQs, THQs, RHCs and BHUs in the district.

They said the poor could not get medicine in the state-run hospitals. They said 20 posts of medical officers in BHUs and five posts of female medical officers at Allama Iqbal Hospital have been lying vacant since long and no sincere efforts have yet been made by the district government to fill in these posts.

When contacted, the officials concerned refused to offer any comment on the issue of giving autonomy to DHQ hospitals.