ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Friday said that the federal government earmarked an amount of Rs1 billion in the budget for the fiscal year 2023-24 for health insurance of working journalists and media workers.

“Delighted to announce that an allocation has been made in the budget for health insurance of working journalists for the first time ever,” the minister said in a tweet.

She extended gratitude to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for allocating funds for the “very important measure”.

“As information minister, it was one of my goals to be able to arrange this facility for working journalists, especially during these difficult times,” the minister remarked.

Talking to the media, she said the federal budget for fiscal year 2023-24 would restart the journey of progress and development in the country which had witnessed four years of economic destruction, joblessness, “chaos and anarchy” during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s tenure.

Marriyum said the government had been pursuing the same vision for the economy which was implemented in 2013 to bring development and prosperity.

Now, the economic stability had returned due to the prudent policies of the coalition government, she added.

A mega relief package was being given for agriculture, the IT sector, and youth in the budget, she said while reiterating that there was “good news” for the government servants.

She said that incentives had been given to the information technology sector to create job opportunities for youth and empower them for economic growth.

A comprehensive relief package had also been announced for the agriculture sector including farmers, she added.

The minister said substantive allocations had been made for the promotion of education by improving its overall standard and quality.

For the first time, the health insurance scheme had been announced for working journalists and artists, she remarked.

The minister said the previous government also presented budgets in their four-year tenure that lacked any vision for the progress and development of the country.

It seemed that the sole purpose of the previous PTI government was to shatter the social cohesion in the country and economic stabilisation was not part of its agenda.

Marriyum said the previous government was fully exposed when they suspended the IMF programme after its flagrant violations.

To a query, she said four years of “pervasive incompetence, widespread corruption, and severe economic deterioration” had deeply disappointed the nation.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023