Islamabad police to get health cards, houses: PM Imran

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Imran Khan said the government will have health cards and homes for Islamabad police officers.

He made the remarks while presenting at the Islamabad police’s passing out parade at the headquarters of Police Lines where he was the chief guest.

I want to say two things to Islamabad police. The first thing is that every official will be issued a health card which ensures that each household will have health insurance for availing care at either government or private hospital.

He added that under the Naya Pakistan Housing System, police and government workers would now be allowed to purchase their own homes.

You’re going to buy your houses with the fees you pay. This is a huge part of our policy, particularly for government workers and police officers like you.

By emphasising the significance of the police in society, the premier began his address. “A police force has a very big role in society. But, up till now that role has not yet been realised.”

He claimed that citizens hated the police because of colonialism. The English had a different kind of power, which took care of the people and treated them as their own.

“And because they considered us slaves, the attitude of the policemen was different.”

He said he wanted the country to treat the police as their own and to “love them” He said they saw that the police were the object of terrorism when the PTI came into power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

About 500 police officers were martyred, and their morale was poor. Yet in front of our eyes, this power transformed and faced terrorism. Then there was a time when the Peshawar and Mardan people were organising rallies in support of the police, he added, adding that he was proud to see the force transform in front of his eyes.

A few words of advice were also provided by the prime minister to the graduates at today’s ceremony. In front of you, you will always have two roads. Pray always to be put on the road of blessings and not that which leads to your demise.

The prime minister said that he was also faced with the option between two options back in his days of playing cricket when he was invited to play cricket under the Apartheid regime in South Africa and again when he was asked to settle on a toss in a match. He said the route that seems straightforward is not always so and is instead the path that leads to “destruction.”

He said, referring to opposition politicians: “There have been politicians who have been given a lot of opportunities and made leaders of the country.” These two directions […] were both addressed to them, but the paths they went on became a source of alarm [for others] instead.

They go to hospitals occasionally, they go out of the country sometimes […] Their children flee away, they have to pretend to cover their fathers.

Overseas Pakistanis

The prime minister said Pakistanis abroad were the “biggest assets” of the country and only their support could “uplift Pakistan.”

The Prime Minister said that when he went abroad, the most common concerns he got from overseas Pakistanis were the lack of protection and safety for their investments and purchases of land.

“When they buy land or houses here, they are illegally taken over by […] Pakistanis abroad need confidence that their money and investment will be safe and secure.”

Therefore, the prime minister said, the police have a direct role to play in “uplifting Pakistan” by securing overseas Pakistani investments.

‘Big achievements’

The prime minister pointed to his government’s two big achievements that were a source of “great pride” for him.

Speaking about the current account, for the first time in 17 years, the Premier said it had gone into surplus for the fifth straight month. “He also mentioned the current state of the internal revenues and expenditures of Pakistan and said, “We have balanced it and are in surplus a little bit.

He called them his government’s “big achievements” because, according to him, no one thought that in two years it was possible and everybody doubted that it could be achieved.

The prime minister admitted that the salaries of Islamabad police officers were smaller than those of their Punjab counterparts. “do something about it”do something about it.

Though assuring them that he would speak about the topic “to see what can be done about it” with Finance Minister Hafeez Shaikh, he said that the real challenge was the huge debt that the country was under.

“The prime minister, likening the country to a household, said, “As debts accrue, before incomes grow, a household must slash its spending. There is trouble for the family when you slash spending.

So the nation will have to be “patient for a while” before the country’s tax production rises, said the prime minister.

PM Imran said the Prime Minister’s House and Prime Minister’s Office budget had also been cut by 60-70 percent.

He added that if Pakistan’s income continues to grow and there is enough capital, wages for Pakistani police, bureaucrats, government workers, and salaried groups will be boosted.