PM praises Army’s role in nation building

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

Sunday, January 17, 2010
By By our correspondent
LAHORE: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said the Pakistan Army, besides rendering sacrifices to protect the territorial and ideological frontiers of the motherland, both from internal and external threats, is playing an active role in nation building, especially in the health and education sectors.

He was addressing a gathering after inaugurating the newly-built campus of the CMH Lahore Medical College at Lahore Garrison here on Saturday. Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani was also present on the occasion.

Gilani said the Pakistan Army had always been a forerunner in terms of its contribution to national development. Its culture of leading by example is evident in nation building projects. He said academic institutions like the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), the Army Medical College, Rawalpindi, and the National Defence University had not only earned international acclaim but were also setting new precedents in shoring up academic standards in the country.

The PM said the vast network of Combined Military Hospitals was sharing a significant burden of the country’s health sector by providing affordable health services, even in the remotest corners of the country. He said the entrenched role of the Army Medical Corps in the forefronts of serious disasters, calamities and military operations against the evils of terrorism and extremism was superb.

The PM said physical, mental and social health was a prelude to a well-off nation, thus, making provision of professional health services to common citizens an angelic task. He said health sector development was the need of the hour. Gilani said his family had long been striving for promotion of knowledge and to ensure the best healthcare facilities to patients.

He said his forefathers had served in the past governments of Pakistan and established a number of educational institutions and hospitals. He said his father was the founder of the Nishtar Medical College, Multan, while the Medical College for Women, Multan, was being set up on his aspiration.

The PM said he and former Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool had discussed the idea of a medical college in Lahore during their meetings and he had implemented the idea by setting up the Sheikh Zayed Medical and Dental College.

Agencies add: Gilani said a delegation of the US-based Pakistani doctors had told him that around 70,000 Pakistan doctors were serving in the USA and Canada. The doctors also offered advisory services for the uplift of Pakistan’s health sector.

The prime minister also announced Rs 100 million grant for the CMH Lahore Medical and Dental College.

Meanwhile, COAS General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, during an address to the officers of the Lahore Garrison, said the Pakistan Army was singleminded in its professional pursuits and totally focused and motivated in accomplishment of its core mission.

He also dilated upon the important issues related to operation and training. During his visit, he also approved the new phase of DHA, planned to provide residential plots to Junior Commissioned Officers and Havildars of the Pakistan Army.