State minister for health Shehnaz Sheikh told the National Assembly on Friday the Cardiac Surgery Centre is being constructed at a cost of Rs 551.659 million at Pims, Islamabad. She was answering a question by MNA Hakim Qari Gul Rehman whether if there was any proposal to set up Cardiac Surgery Centres both at FGHS and Pims.
The minister said PC-I of the project was approved on December 7, 2004 and the work was started in March 2006. She said the project would be completed in 18 months.
Answering a supplementary question from Mehreen Raja about any programme to stop doctors referring patients to private hospitals, the minister said with the opening of Cardiac Surgery Centre, the hospital would be fully equipped with all facilities and there would be no need of referring patients to private hospitals for treatment. She also told the house patients, who could not afford such an expensive treatment, are compensated through Baitul Maal.
On a question from Ruqayya Khanum Soomro, the minister said the National Institute of Health (NIH) has produced 1,416,800 mls (equal to 40,480 courses) anti-rabies vaccine during 2005-06 while 283,192 mls (equal to 809 courses) have been produced so far during the current fiscal, she added.
MNA Shahida Akhtar in a supplementary question gave the observation that the vaccine is not easily available in Karachi hospitals but the speaker did not entertain the question. To another supplementary question, the minister said the vaccine is usually supplied in small quantities on demand due to storage problems.
State minister for railways Ali Asjad Mali, answering a question from Dr Farid Ahmed on the present status of Karachi Circular Railways, said the first phase from Karachi City station to Dhabeji station and Karachi City station to Malir Cantt have been revived and train operation was started on March 8, 2005. He said 10 trains are carrying 3000 passengers every day.
Regarding phase-II, he said the train service has been further extended to Wazir Mansion from May 9, 2005. Formalities regarding formation of Karachi Urban Transport Corporation are in the process, he added.
He told the house old alignment of Karachi Circular Railways will be revamped and new double-track is being proposed for its complete revival. MNA Chaudhry Ejaz from treasury benches belonging to Mandi Bahuddin through a point of order demanded revival of Mandi railway route. MNA Laeeq Ahmad also advocated for reviving Railway Circular System in the Site Industrial Area of Karachi.
Regarding delays and problems faced by the government in implementing the Railway Circular System in Karachi, the minister pointed out encroachments and obstructions need to be removed. This, he said, is cumbersome and time consuming.
Answering a supplementary question from MNA Zaheer Awan Khokhar, the minister said Lahore Circular Railway plan is also under consideration under Metropolitan Cities Forum and its PC-I has been completed; however, the cost of the project is too high, he added. M.P. Bhandara questioned the minister about the area under encroachments and what procedure was being adopted to remove them.
The minister who had replied to the main question from Inayat Begum and had revealed that 1855 acres of land has been retrieved since 2001 said 2461 acres of land is still under encroachment.
However, the legal procedure is very lengthy and stay orders are the main hindrance in the way of removing these encroachments, he added. To a supplementary question from Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali, who said 60 percent of revenue is to be spent on research as per international standards, parliamentary secretary for food, agriculture and livestock Rajab Ali Baloch said this is in ideal situations and practically it is 50 percent. However, we are spending 20 to 25 percent on research.
He said there are two research institutions in Pakistan, namely Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) and Pakistan Central Cotton Committee (PCCC), which have spent Rs 3046.476 million on research in the last three and a half years. PARC, Rs 2435.6 million and PCCC, Rs 610.876 million, he added.
On a query from the speaker, who asked what results have been achieved in the last four years, the parliamentary secretary said many new maize and wheat seed varieties have been developed, apart from plant protection, invention of new vaccines, new livestock varieties and enhancement of cotton production.