MUZAFFARABAD: The prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir has pledged to provide high-quality medical facilities to the people in the liberated territory. Sardar Tanveer Ilyas made this announcement during a meeting with a delegation from the Mirpur Healthcare Community, led by Dental Surgeon Dr. Adnan Marghoub Khan and Dr. Ijaz Raja.
The delegation presented a charter of demands on behalf of the community, which included increasing the honorarium of house officers and post-graduate trainees in the upcoming budget, increasing the salary of medical officers and specialists, granting allowances to doctors working in remote areas, regularization of 120 doctors with more than five years of ad-hoc service who served during the Covid-19 pandemic, addressing the shortage of staff at Kashmir Institute of Cardiology, Mirpur on an emergency basis, immediate appointment of a Nephrologist at DHQ Mirpur, the permanent appointment of a psychiatrist at DHQ Mirpur, the establishment of an Oncology Hospital in Mirpur for the treatment of cancer patients, enhancing post-graduate training opportunities, starting mendelian susceptibility to mycobacterial diseases (MSMD) program organized by universities in various specialties, and allocation of 100 kanals of government land for doctors in all three divisional headquarters of Mirpur, Rawalkot, and Muzaffarabad.
Ilyas agreed to all the demands and assured the delegates that their legitimate demands would be fulfilled. He also promised to address any problems faced by the community on a priority basis.
Additionally, during his next visit to the city, he would pay a detailed visit to Benazir Bhutto Medical College.
The delegation included Dr. Ashfaq Ahmad Raja, Dr. Tahir Mehmood, Dr. Gohar Latif, Dr. Ahmed Naeem Kayani, Dr. Shoaib Khan, Dr. Majid Altaf, Sajid Ahmad Chaudhry, and others. Medical Superintendent Divisional Headquarters Teaching Hospital Mirpur Dr. Amir Aziz and Principal Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Medical College Professor Dr. Faisal Bashir were also present on the occasion.
In a separate meeting, the central chairman of the Zakat Council, Chaudhry Muhammad Siddique, called on Ilyas who directed the concerned authorities to ensure the fair distribution of zakat among the poor and needy in Kashmir. He also requested that an amount of Rs6,000 and Rs12,000 be paid as zakat and dowry funds to the needy.
Siddique briefed the prime minister about the issues related to the Zakat Council. Ilyas assured him that all the problems faced by the Council would be addressed on a priority basis.
Government ministers including Chaudhry Yasir Sultan, Chaudhry Ali Shan Soni, and Chaudhry Maqbool Gujjar were also present during the meetings.
