T HIS refers to the report `Sindh government sanctions Rs40m for Umer Sharif`s treatment` (Sept 16). I deeply appreciate the chief minister`s generous allocation for air ambulance and treatment abroad for the famous comedian.
While we all wish him good health, one would like to ask a few elementary questions. Is the allocation of Rs40 million an act of personal charity or will it be covered at the taxpayers`expense? Are there no decent government hospitals or competent physicians in the country who can treat Mr Sharif? If not, the government`s first priority should be to develop this capacity for the benefit of all citizens.
Why is the foreign treatment facility not available to millions of underpaid, exploited and enslaved workers, but is available to Mr Sharif? The man has already been blessed with great fame and financial resources in his long and distinguished professional career.
It may be an appropriate moment to remind all concerned that about 1,700 janitors contracted by the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation are paid illegal wages of Rs14,000 and the Water and Sanitation Agency `gutter men` are paid Rs10,000. Both have no social service registration and certainly no opportunity to be sent abroad for medical treatment.
The policy of appeasing the rich and torturing the poor will not make Pakistan a country we could all be proud of.
