Rajwana says ,"Pay off what you owe to motherland,"

MULTAN - Punjab Governor Malik Rafiq Rajwana has said that Pakistan has given us a lot and now it is our turn to pay back to our country.

Addressing the participants of sixth convocation of University of Education (UoE) Lahore Multan Campus on Monday, he said, "We do not have any right to be called Pakistani if we do not love our country." He said that graduation day is a moment of pride for both the students and their parents. "Now the time has come to pay back to this society. You should discharge your national and moral obligation to eliminate ignorance and illiteracy from the society," he asked the students. He said that the fresh graduates have to learn as to how to pay off what they owed to this land and the best way to share their knowledge with the younger generations.

The Governor stressed upon the parents to encourage their daughters to serve the society after acquiring higher education instead of confining them to homes. He asked the students to stay hopeful instead of getting disappointed, saying Pakistan would soon become one of the most developed countries of the world.

He said that the government had launched a number of initiatives to end unemployment from the society, adding that offering education, health and job opportunities to the citizens was the responsibility of the government. He said that the youth had to face challenges in practical life and they should face all challenges with a passion to discover a new opportunity instead of getting frightened.

He said that the people raised the slogan that politics was a sacred service but we needed to employ self-accountability to analyse how much service we rendered to the public. He added that the people were tired of listening to artificial and fake claims now and they wanted practical steps.

The Governor also conferred medals on position holder students and 22 out of 26 medals were won by the girls and the rest four by boys.

A total of 1,928 students graduated and received their degrees during the convocation.

Vice Chancellor of the varsity Dr Rauf Azam, Principal Multan Campus Shahid Raza, faculty members, students and their parents were present on this occasion.

Earlier, the Governor inaugurated newly constructed academic block of the varsity. The building has been constructed at a cost of Rs93 million in 18 months.

STATE-OF-THE-ART HEALTHCARE FACILITIES

Meanwhile, the Punjab Governor said that offering state-of-the-art healthcare facilities to the masses is top priority of the Punjab Government and hospitals are being equipped with latest machinery under this vision.

He observed this while inspecting construction work of extension project of Multan Institute of Cardiology here on Monday. The Governor directed the officials of buildings department to ensure completion of the project in time as the Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif wants to give this gift to the residents of South Punjab as soon as possible. Mr Rajwana also inquired about the health of patients admitted to different wards and checked the availability of free medicines.

While briefing the Governor, MIC Medical Superintendent Dr Zafar Alvi said that the hospital received patients not only from the entire South Punjab but Sindh, Balochistan and KPK as well. He said that the government increased budgetary allocation for the hospital to Rs650 million from Rs150 million while the extension project would add another 50 beds to the existing capacity. He disclosed that the patients were being installed pace makers for free and this facility was not available even in Lahore and Faisalabad. He claimed that 90 percent patients were given treatment for free.