–Bilawal condemns move, says it is an attack on provincial autonomy
KARACHI: The Federal Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Control on Thursday took over the administrative control of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and National Institute of Child Health, evoking strong reaction from the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
According to a notification issued by the ministry, in pursuance of Supreme Court of Pakistan’s orders and with the approval of federal cabinet on April 2, three major Karachi hospitals are restored to the federal government and placed under the administrative control of the ministry of National Health services, Islamabad.
Reacting to the development, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari condemned the taking over of three major hospitals of Sindh by the federal government and termed it as an attack on provincial autonomy.
In a statement, the PPP chairman said: “The people of Sindh have invested billions of rupees on revolutionary improvements in Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC), National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) and National Institute of Child Health after these hospitals were handed over to the province under the 18th Constitutional Amendment.”
Expansion of NICVD hospitals to several cities of the province has excelled the performance of Sindh government, which paid for expensive cardiac treatments of patients from all over Pakistan, he added.
Bilawal said that taking over these main health infrastructures without waiting for the final verdict of the Supreme Court on a review petition filed by Sindh government had displayed the arrogance of the federal government and a challenging contempt of the supreme judiciary by PTI government.
He pointed out that PPP’s Sindh government was spending Rs 12.5 billion on NICVD and Rs 4 billion on JPMC annually to ensure quality free of cost treatments to patients from all over Pakistan. He said Sindh government had been providing state of the art health facilities to people from every corner of the country without any charges.
Bilawal made it clear that his party and the people of Sindh wouldn’t allow anyone to usurp the hard-earned assets of health facilities and categorically said that resistance would be mounted at every available forum, warning the federal government to withdraw the said notification before the public outrage mounted.
