ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has expressed the resolve to chalk out a comprehensive vision to improve living standard of common people and bring people out of poverty.
Addressing a ceremony here on Thursday, the Prime Minister said, “We have to improve our hospitals and revamp our medical infrastructure in the country.” He said hospitals will not improve unless the elite, including ministers, go there for treatment.
He said self-belief is panacea for development, progress and self-reliance. He said, “We have to go towards knowledge economy, education, science and technology to get a dignified place among comity of nations.”
The Prime Minister said that COVID-19 crisis provided an opportunity to produce locally manufactured ventilators and other protective equipment as everything cannot be imported.
On the occasion, the Prime Minister also inspected various medical equipment produced by various public sector organizations and private sector.
Giving a briefing to Prime Minister Imran Khan during the ceremony, Minister of Science and Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said Pakistan is producing personal protective equipment indigenously on affordable cost to face the challenge of COVID-19.
He said, “Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research is manufacturing hand sanitizers and disinfectants in large number and we can export these goods, even after meeting our local requirements.” He said seven types of ventilators designed by Pakistan Engineering Council are in clinical trial, while National University of Science and Technology (NUST) has developed its own testing kit.
Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said private sector, especially textile sector of Faisalabad, is producing protective gears for doctors and heal workers, beyond domestic consumption.
Giving a briefing to Prime Minister Imran Khan during the ceremony, Minister of Defence Production Zobaida Jalal said Pakistanis have great mind and are able to overcome any kind of challenge.
She said, “After emergence of COVID-19, we have mobilized our teams working under Ministry of Defence Production to prepare safety equipment in fight against coronavirus.”
Zobaida Jalal said her ministry has achieved the capability to produce around 300,000 to 400,000 liters of sanitizers, 35,000 high quality masks and 400-500 protective suits per day.
She said production along with its establishments have stepped forward to complement national fight against COVID-19 and work out methodologies of utilizing existing industrial infrastructure for development of protective gears and other articles. She said, “We made possible all the production with our own resources. In this regard, NRCC utilized 10 million rupees from own resources.”
She said that NRCC will start repairing of ventilators in Haripur and Lahore soon to meet any kind of emergency. Three hundred ventilators have so far been repaired by Pakistani engineers. She said, “Our engineers are behind the scene of success doing combat the COVID-19.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan has said Modi government of India, with its fascist Hindutva Supremacist RSS-driven ideology, continues its war crimes in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) under the cover of COVID-19 pandemic.
In a tweet, the Prime Minister said that Modi regime is violating Fourth Geneva Convention by continuing its genocide of Kashmiris and by attempting to change demography in Occupied Kashmir, which is a territory recognized as disputed by the United Nations.
The Prime Minister urged the international community to take notice of these war crimes by India in violations of 4th Geneva Convention and international humanitarian laws.
Meanwhile, Briefing the newsmen about prevailing coronavirus situation here on Thursday,
Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the government has, so far, disbursed Rs81 billion among 6.6 million deserving families under Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme.
He said that Ehsaas Emergency Cash Information Portal was launched for bringing transparency and merit into the programme.
He said the third category of the programme covers all provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir. The Prime Minister said Sindh has been given the maximum relief funds under the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme.
He said the COVID-19 brought major devastation in countries like the United States and Italy, but the circumstances are quite different in Pakistan.
Imran Khan said the COVID-19 Tiger Force has been asked to set up its desk at each union council and district levels to identify poor and deserving families. He said overseas Pakistanis have a major contribution in the country’s economy, and said the government is taking steps to resolve problems and issues being faced by the diaspora.
Referring to his conversation with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, he said Iran has decided to continue restrictions on gatherings, opening of schools and colleges amid coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed to operationalise the Prime Minister COVID-19 Tigers Force across the country from Monday (May 04).
The Prime Minister gave these directions while talking to Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation Sania Nishtar and Special Adviser to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Usman Dar here on Thursday.
The Prime Minister said he, himself, will address to youth registered with the Tigers Force on social media platforms.
Speaking on the occasion, Usman Dar briefed the Prime Minister about functionality, responsibilities and registration process of the Tigers Force.
He also briefed the Prime Minister about operational preparedness and successful test run of tigers force in Sialkot.
The members of Prime Minister’s COVID-19 Tigers Force will identify unemployed labourers across the country who will be given financial assistance under Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme.
The members will also perform duties at various locations, including mosques, utility stores and Quarantine centers across the country.
Meanwhile,
Pakistan and Egypt have expressed resolve to evolve a joint comprehensive plan to turn economic crisis generated by global coronavirus pandemic into an opportunity for economic regeneration.
The resolve came during Prime Minister Imran Khan’s telephonic conversation with Egyptian President Abdel Fatteh Sisi on Thursday.
The wide-ranging discussion between the two leaders focused on their respective national approaches to managing COVID-19 and Prime Minister Imran Khan’s call to launch a ‘Global Initiative on Debt Relief’ for developing countries.
Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Imran Khan underscored that while debt suspension will help free up resources in the developing countries to manage this unprecedented global health and economic crisis, more measures are needed to reboot the developing countries’ economies.
Egyptian President Abdel Fatteh Sisi expressed support to the Prime Minister’s Debt Relief Initiative.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed the Establishment Division to circulate necessary instructions to all ministries, Divisions, Departments, and Cadre Administration to proceed in accordance with provisions of new Civil Servants retirement rules.
The Prime Minister Office has directed each department and Division or Office to maintain a list of civil servants, who have completed requisite length of service under Section 13 of Civil Servants Act 1973, and carry out a review of their performance.
Since new rules have now come in force under the title of Civil Servants (Directory Retirement from Service) Rules, 2020, a mandatory review of Civil Servants performance is required. Upon mandatory review, if requisite grounds for retirement are observed, such cases will then be referred by the cadre administration to the respective retirement board or retirement committees as the case may be.
Accordingly, the exercise required to be carried out by the Cadre Administration shall be completed within a period of one month, positively. TLTP, NNI
PM Khan stresses that medical infrastructure needs to be revamped, hospitals be improved
