he Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz-led Punjab government`s failure to complete three under-construction hospitals in the garrison city even during its second term in office is reflective of the low priority given to public health.

Two hospitals Mother and Child Hospital at Committee Chowk and Rawalpindi Institute of Urology at Shamsabad, Murree Road were initlated by the PML-N government in 2010 and 2011 respectively and a third one was launched by Sheikh Rashid Ahmed in 2006.

Officials of the health department termed lack of funding as the main hurdle since the provincial government has shifted all its attention and funds towards the Metro Bus project.

The Mother and Child Hospital on Asghar Mall near Eidgah was initiated by former Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid at an estimated cost of Rs2.5 billion during the tenure of former president General Pervez Musharraf in 2006.

Mother and Child Hospital at Committee Chowk, costing Rs800 million, was started in 2010 and it was to be completed by 2012.

Due to delays in release of funds, construction work on Rawalpindi Institute of Urology was delayed and started in 2012 rather than 2010 and was to be completed by January 2014.

The estimated cost of the project was Rs1.2 billion and the provincial government released only Rs200 million in the last two years.

Now both the cost of construction and theprice of equipment have gone up, forcing the health department to send a revised PC-I to receive additionalfunds.

Mother and Child Hospital also fell victim to Punjab government`s negligence. During the last tenure of the Pakistan People`s Party in the centre, the provincial government was not willing to take charge of the hospital although after the 18th Amendment, health became a provincial subject.

A senior official of the Punjab Health Department told Dawn that the provincial government would take the issue to the Council ofCommon Interests and will persuade the federal government to complete the project.

Awami Muslim League President andMember of National Assembly (MNA) Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told Dawn the projectfellprey to politics.

`I started the Leh Expressway and the hospital in Asghar Mall but the PML-N leadership could not stand to see my name on the inauguration plaque of the two projects and so they stopped the work,` he said.

He added that the government hadspent a huge amount on advertisement campaigns against leadership of opposition parties but had no funds for the health sector.

The PTI Punjab North President Ghulam Sarwar Khan told Dawn that the provincial government had spent billions of rupees on unnecessary projects but ignored public health.

He said the metro bus project had nothing to do with ordinary citizens and people`s basic needs had been ignored as Sharif brothers wanted their name on mega projects.

However, former MNA of PML-N HanifAbbasi did not agree with Sheikh Rashid and Ghulam Sarwar Khan`s views and said the provincial government was committed to providing facilities to people at their doorsteps.

`The hospitals, especially Rawalpindi Institute of Urology, are very important. The Rawalpindi Institute of Urology will be the first hospital which will cater to north Punjab, Azad Jammu and Kashmir as well as Gilgit-Baltistan, providing kidney transplant free of cost,` he said.

Mr Abbasi said work on Rawalpindi Institute of Urology will be completed within a few months. `The worl( is likely to complete this year,` he said.

The construction work on Mother and Child Hospital at Committee Chowlc has been completed and the hospital will be functional within two months, he said.

Work on the hospital at Asghar Mall was in progress and will soon be handed over to Punjab government, Mr Abbasi said.

He added that the Musharraf regime and its ministers had failed to provide facilities during their time in power and spent all public money on musical concerts.