Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar has said that unfortunately some people kept saying that coronavirus is just a conspiracy of the government to receive dollar aid.
He was addressing the ceremony at King Edward Medical University and media on Wednesday. KEMU Vice-Chancellor Prof Khalid Masood Gondal, Pro Vice Chancellor Prof Ejaz Hussain, Registrar Prof Asghar Naqi, Prof Balqees Shabbir, Prof Saira Afzal, Prof Saqib Saeed, Prof Asad Aslam Khan and others were present on the occasion.
The governor said that the public should take coronavirus seriously. We cannot afford Eid-ul-Fitr like situation again. Bureaucrats who are creating obstacles in university files will be answerable and strict action will be taken against them.
Sarwar said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan our government believes in merit and transparency. As a Chancellor, I can say this with certainty that I have appointed all vice-chancellors on merit and not a single hiring has been done through unfair means. When we appoint vice-chancellors on merit we expect them to ensure meritocracy in their respective universities.
He said the previous governments have destroyed national institutes so we will not tolerate anything that violates merit and transparency. We have to strengthen national institutes to make Pakistan invincible.
The governor said that unfortunately some bureaucrats halt the administrative procedure of universities. He maintained that inordinate delay will no longer be tolerated in administrative procedures of universities because it negatively affects their performance.
We have finalised this policy that the files regarding universities will be processed in the administrative department within 10 working days and any officer who fails to do so will be answerable in this regard and action will be taken against them as per law. My mission is that Pakistani universities rank among top 500 universities of the world. In order to achieve it, we are strengthening institutes by the elimination of political interference from them.
He said that there is a danger of spike in coronavirus cases on Eid and Muharram-ul-Haram.
Negligence in observing government SOPs will result in aggravating coronavirus situation in Pakistan. We should stop spreading rumours that coronavirus is a conspiracy by the government to receive foreign aid.
Coronavirus is a global pandemic and we have no option but to follow SOPs if we want to get rid of this virus, he added. He said that King Edward Medical University and other medical universities have played an exemplary role in tackling coronavirus.
As a result of the hard work of universities and industries, we donated medical equipment worth Rs 100 million. National, as well as international organisations are lauding the research input of King Edward Medical College.
He said that the telemedicine initiative has proved to be successful in Punjab. Millions of people have sought medical advice from our medical experts by calling on the helpline. We launched Pink Coronavirus helpline for women of Punjab where they can seek help from lady health workers.
King Edward Medical University Vice-Chancellor Prof Khalid Masood Gondal said that our doctors have been fighting coronavirus as frontline soldiers and our doctors have joined duty right after recovering from deadly coronavirus. Smart lockdown policy and telemedicine helpline have been very fruitful in tackling coronavirus in Pakistan.
He further said that we really appreciate the steps taken by Governor Chaudhry Sarwar for providing safety equipment to healthcare staff and distributing ration among coronavirus affected families. He reiterated that we have not defeated coronavirus yet so the public should celebrate Eid with simplicity by observing SOPs.
