PM Khan launches Sehat Insaf Card scheme in Punjab

In Pakistan, the poor goes to government hospital while the rich visit private ones, said PM.

RAJANPUR (Dunya News) – Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday launched the Sehat Insaf Card scheme in Punjab to provide quality health services to people who can’t afford them.

Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and Punjab Minister for Health Dr Yasmin Rashid also accompanied the Prime Minister in the ceremony.

Addressing the ceremony held in Rajanpur, the premier maintained that the rich do not visit government hospitals for treatment due to their dire condition.

In Pakistan, the poor goes to government hospital while the rich visit private ones, he added.

“The former rulers used to have their treatment abroad. Opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif did the same. His son-in-law has escaped abroad in guise of treatment whereas his son has also flown out,” criticized PM Khan.

“Nawaz Sharif also wants to go abroad for medical care. He became Prime Minister thrice and Rs28 crore was spent on his treatment. Now he says that either he should be sent to jail or abroad for treatment,” said the premier.

Also Read: Sehat Insaf Card launched to provide free medical facility to needy

“Are there no hospitals for Sharif brothers in Pakistan,” he questioned. PM Khan asserted that health is a basic necessity whereas the poor undergo various obscurities whenever any ailment overtakes them.

“We will provide Sehat card to all the poor families in Punjab worth Rs7,20,000 for treatment,” declared the premier.

ACCOUNTABILITY ACROSS THE BOARD

Prime Minister Imran Khan reiterated his government’s commitment to ensure accountability across the board without showing any leniency.

He said if a corrupt person is arrested, some people start making hue and cry and term this action as anti-democracy.

"What an irony it was that rulers spent public funds for their personal benefits. Shahbaz Sharif ruled Punjab for 10 years, but he failed to establish any quality hospital where rulers and other influential people get treated," he deprecated.

Imran Khan said he will try his best to make Pakistan a welfare state by upholding principles of justice and humanity laid down by the State of Madina.

He directed Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmeen Rashid to expedite reforms in government hospitals in the province to improve health facilities so that a common person can get his treatment there.

The Prime Minister also distributed health cards among some of the deserving families of district Rajanpur. He said Rajanpur is the most backward area of Pakistan and his government is going to start health cards distribution to facilitate people of this area.

He said this campaign will be further expanded to other parts of Punjab.

On February 4, Prime Minister Imran Khan at a ceremony in Islamabad launched the first phase of the countrywide Sehat Insaf Card scheme to provide free medical treatment to approximately 80 million people. Later, he launched the scheme for the tribal districts at a ceremony in Peshawar.

SEHAT INSAF CARD

Sources informed that in the first phase cards would be issued to those persons whose monthly salary is below Rs 15,000. Under the scheme households below the poverty line will receive free medical treatment worth Rs720,000 in private or state-owned hospitals.

Sources further informed that 30.5 million people would be provided Sehat Insaf Card in Punjab during the current year.

The card, which falls under the PTI’s Sehat Sahulat Programme, was part of a health insurance scheme first launched by the party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2016.