Daily Times

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Saturday said that the PTI government and Prime Minister Imran Khan are neglecting the issues of the healthcare sector, warning the government that it will soon launch ‘Punjab Bachao’ movement.

Speaking at a press conference, PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal said that after meeting and listening to the problems of doctors across country, he is quite concerned about the medical fraternity. Criticising the promulgation of Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) Ordinance, 2019, through which the government oversees the performance of the medical and dental practice in the country and formulates policies, he said his party will raise their voice against it in the parliament. He said that the country is not only for the elite class and the government is on a spree to privatise healthcare facilities. “Pakistan is not for the rich only, it is for 22 crore Pakistanis, whose majority is living below poverty line courtesy Imran Khan,” he said.

Referring to his conversation with the Young Doctors Association members, he said that their concerns were well-founded and the government needs to look into their issues and resolve them. The PML-N leader said that 6,000 postgraduate doctors of the country, who have experience from public hospital practice, are not having their qualifications recognized by the current government.

The former minister said he feared that the current government will blithely worsen the issues of doctors and healthcare sector just as it did with the national airline PIA. He added that the PML-N will compile a National Health Charter with medical experts and present it at the Punjab Assembly and National Assembly.

The former interior minister accused the PTI government of sending Punjab back to the ‘Stone Age’. He said that the time has arrived for the PML-N to launch a movement against the government’s policies in Punjab. “The PML-N will soon have to start a Punjab Bachao movement,” he said. “The PTI has wreaked havoc throughout the province,” he added. The PML-N stalwart said that his party’s mandate had been stolen in Punjab and said that instead of strengthening institutions, the PTI was setting the province back 50 years. “A government of destruction is in power in Punjab which will destroy this developed province,” he said. “[Imran Khan] Niazi will have to answer for the destruction of Punjab,” he said, adding that Punjab is the biggest province of Pakistan and its performances has a direct impact on Pakistan’s economy. “If Punjab crumbles, the entire system will crumble,” he stated.