CM Usman Buzdar announces Rs2.5bn for 28 nursing colleges

LAHORE Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar praising the yeoman service rendered by the nursing community, has said that several steps are being taken for the nurses’ welfare.

Addressing the maiden nursing convention-2022 at the CM’s House here Wednesday, the CM announced giving Rs2.5 billion to 28 nursing colleges along with a special quota for candidates of backward areas in the nursing institutions. He gave away upgradation certificates to nursing colleges’ principals of different districts and announced that March 2 would be observed as nursing day in the province every year and pointed out that the BS nursing degree programme was also started by upgrading 44 schools as nursing colleges. He said that monthly stipend had been increased from Rs20,171 to Rs31,470 for the nursing students.

He said the posts of nursing instructors, deputy nursing superintendents and clinical instructors had been elevated from grade-17 to 18. Alongside, he added the public health nursing schools of Lahore and Chakwal were being upgraded with respect to the BS midwifery programme and maintained that more than 10,000 nursing staff had been recruited and promoted in three and a half years. Meanwhile, 48,000 doctors and paramedics had also been recruited while the process was in progress to complete recruitment against 130,000 posts, he added.

The chief minister informed that a male nursing college was established in Shahdara Teaching Hospital, Lahore along with the introduction of online admissions in the nursing programme. He said the government had also completed affiliation of 16 nursing colleges with medical universities concerned.

The CM regretted that the past government did not pay attention to the nursing sector and pointed out that more than double the health budget had been given by the incumbent government. He explained that Rs403 billion had been allocated for health sector as eight mother and child hospitals were being constructed along with 23 new government hospitals.

An amount of Rs400 billion had been allocated to give new Pakistan Qaumi Sehat Cards to 30 million families in the province to provide free healthcare facilities to the masses, he said adding this programme had already started in seven divisions where 73 percent of the population of the province had already been benefitting from this facility.

spring festival: Usman Buzdar inaugurated Spring Festival 2022 at Jillani Park here on Wednesday and also visited the Art and Craft Village. He inspected various stalls being displayed over there and also inspected traditional food stalls. Usman Buzdar expressed his deep interest in handicrafts stalls and was presented with handcrafts souvenirs on behalf of artists. Balochi, Sindhi, Saraiki and other cultural stalls were also a source of keen interest for the visitors in the Art and Craft Village.