PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) has exposed corruption and serious irregularities worth billions of rupees under the MTI Act and Sehat Card during PTI’s 13-year tenure and demanded an immediate, transparent investigation.
Awami National Party Khyber Pakhtunkhwa spokesperson Arsalan Khan Nazim, while levelling serious allegations, said that during the last 13 years in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the hospital system under the MTI Act has been systematically brought to the verge of destruction.
He said the basic responsibility for the destruction of this entire administrative structure lies with Imran Khan’s cousin, Dr. Nausherwan Burki, who is sitting abroad in the US and running the extremely sensitive and most important sector of the province, like health, through remote control only via WhatsApp.
The spokesperson questioned when will the administrative and financial affairs of hospitals, the indiscriminate use of government funds and the corruption in it be investigated and the responsible be held accountable?
The public has a fundamental right to know where and how the billions of rupees allocated for the health sector were spent. If we look at the financial history of the province, from 2013 till now, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has received a huge amount of Rs 6,400 billion under the NFC Award.
Despite receiving such huge financial resources, people across the province are deprived of basic facilities and are in a miserable condition. According to experts and political circles, with the advent of provincial autonomy and financial funds, the requirements of transparency were put on the back burner, due to which public welfare projects fell prey to political priorities.
Arsalan Khan Nazim revealed that during Imran Khan’s tenure, irregularities and embezzlement of Rs 28 billion 61 crore were committed under the flagship program of Sehat Card alone.
During this program, all principles of transparency were set aside, and favorite hospitals were unnecessarily included in the panel of Sehat Card. The situation became even more serious when hospitals that were not even registered at the government level were made part of this program in 10 districts of the province.
The spokesperson questioned in harsh words why payments were made to unregistered hospitals and who will now account for the financial irregularities in it.
The hard-earned money and taxes of the people are not the personal property of any political party or individual that it should be used arbitrarily and indiscriminately, and there should be no inquiry or accountability. Demand for Transparent Investigation: The current situation demands that all expenditures in the health sector, payments made under the Sehat Card program, and all administrative and financial matters of hospitals running under the MTI Act should be impartially and transparently investigated.
Awami National Party has strongly demanded that all elements involved in corruption and misuse of power should be immediately brought to justice so that those who looted the national exchequer can be held accountable.
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