Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said that the introduction of a health insurance facility for journalists and artists was a step forward to achieving the milestone of an equitable Pakistan as dreamt by Quaid-e-Azam. He was addressing the ceremony of agreement signing between the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and State Life Insurance Corporation for providing health insurance cards to journalists, media workers, and artists as well as technical workers associated with the film industry.
The prime minister said the agreement was of utmost importance as it addressed the media men and artists who worked hard, even sometimes during tough working conditions, but remained deprived of basic amenities in their lives. However, the government would provide them with health insurance coverage through budgetary allocations under the PM Program.
Calling her a “moving spirit” the prime minister appreciated the key role of Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyu Aurangzeb to launch the said insurance facility. He recalled that during Nawaz Sharif’s tenure, health insurance card was launched on a massive scale, and at that time, the Punjab government also implemented his vision.
She said the health insurance facility was in continuation of the Health Card Program (HCP) launched by Nawaz Sharif’s government. She said the government had also made necessary legislation to link the journalists’ salaries with the business of the media entities.
The minister told the gathering that health card would cover ambulance service, cardiac and other surgeries. “This is a whole package of the welfare of artists and journalists,” she remarked. Besides, the government had also recovered Rs120 million of journalists’ salaries from media organizations.
