Though the government hospitals of Sindh province need better equipment and facilities but at the same time buying very costly machinery for the sake of corruption and kickbacks would be not accepted at any cost, said Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor here Friday.He said buying very costly equipment for government hospitals from blue-eyed contractors and firms on the basis of kickbacks is robbery on taxpayers money.
He said the corruption mafia being operated by political personalities is functional in the whole Pakistan especially Sindh province where corruption has made an art. He said at one hand dispensaries in small hospitals don’t even have painkiller tablets but certain vested interests on the other hand are bent on buying equipment worth billions of rupees for just a few hospitals, while this money could be used to develop teaching hospitals district level in the whole province.
He said a hot controversy has developed in Sindh when caretaker health minister Dr Saad Khalid Niaz has rightly cancelled a multi billion rupee contract for buying four more very costly robotic surgery systems. He said the medical fraternity believes that the corruption mafia of Sindh is behind this contract to get funding for the coming general elections.
They think that this money should be better used for development of the government health sector at grassroots level in Sindh. He said though the anti-corruption establishments would decide if there is corruption or kickbacks behind this very lucrative contact but the medical associations are right to support the caretaker Sindh health minister for cancelling this controversial contact and demanding that these funds should be used to develop the basic healthcare system in Sindh.
