JHANG, February 20: Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Farrukh Habib has said that the present government is taking practical steps for the welfare and betterment of masses.
Addressing the oath taking ceremony of newly elected members of Jhang Union of Journalists at Jhang Press Club on Sunday, the state minister said the government has chalked out a comprehensive strategy to provide loans to each and every family with low income to enable them get their own shelter.
He said the government has launched Naya Pakistan Housing Project and directions have already been issued to all banks to provide housing loans to the target groups. He said that the government has started provision of interest free loans up to Rs500,000 under the Kamyab Jawan Programme in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and now the scope of this facility has been extended to Punjab.
Under the scheme, the people can get easy loans for construction of their 3-marla to 10-marla houses, he said, adding that the banks have so far received applications for loans of Rs260 billion, out of which, loans of Rs130 billion were approved and Rs40 billion have been distributed so far. He said that the Kamyab Jawan programme was also linked with housing projects so that low-income people could get housing loans for 3 to 7 years duration.
He said the present government is introducing durable reforms in all sectors which cannot be stopped or eradicated because these reforms and programmes would have direct links with public welfare. He said the government is also concentrating on equipping youth with hi-tech certification under “Skills For All” (SFA) programme so that they could start their own business instead of running behind jobs.
Habib said that IT exports have jumped from $8 million to $3 billion during the present government’s tenure and the government is also focusing to further enhance it. He said that in 2013, exports of Pakistan and Bangladesh were equal at $24 billion. Later, Pakistani exports witnessed decrease and it was recorded at $22 billion in 2018 when Bangladeshi exports were $47 billion. However, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) after coming into power took prudent steps which caused a substantial increase in exports and now total Pakistani exports are expected to be $38 to $39 billion in the current fiscal year.
He said that Imran Khan is a visionary leader who preferred a smart lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic and the step is also appreciated by the global community.
He lauded the health card scheme and said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has made every citizen of Pakistan a millionaire because the card holder could get medical treatment up to Rs1 million from the best hospital of his choice. He said that past rulers preferred to get treatment of their diseases from abroad as they failed to establish even a single quality hospital in the country.
Now, Prime Minister Imran Khan brought a universal health insurance system under which each family in Punjab would get Sehat Card by March 31 and the card holder would be entitled to get free treatment from any public or private hospital of the country. About 2 million people have so far availed the treatment facilities through Sehat cards, he added. -TLTP
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