QUETTA – The health and education secretaries of Balochistan faced the ire of Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saqib Nisar on Tuesday during a suo motu hearing on various issues of public interest in Quetta registry.
The CJP was heading a bench comprising Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Mansoor Ali.
During the Tuesday’s hearing, the country’s top judge expressed his dissatisfaction over the state of health in the largest province and rejected the briefing of Health Secretary Saleh Nasir.
In his remarks, Justice Nisar grilled the top provincial official over the deplorable state of public hospitals as well as the salaries given to young doctors.
The CJP warned the secretary of halting his salary until all the doctors in province get paid. Adding to that, he lamented the Balochistan government over paying the doctors Rs24,000 a month while a driver of the Supreme Court gets Rs35,000 per month.
The education secretary, on his turn, informed the court that half of the schools in the province did not have the proper water supply. However, he added, a total of 11,000 toilets were constructed in the schools across the province during past three years.
The secretary further informed the court that the government had administered 1,135 primary schools but these institutes do not have all the required facilities.
However, the CJP rejected the official claim of meager resources and instructed the secretary to submit a policy report in 15 days.
“I used to think the situation is Sindh is dire but there is nothing here,” said the judge.
During the previous hearing on Monday, the chief justice had directed the former chief ministers of Balochistan, Dr Abdul Malik Baloch and Nawab Sanaullah Zehri, to appear before the apex court to explain what they did for the improvement of governance and welfare of people in the province during their tenures.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/sc-summons-former-balochistan-cms-over-mismanaged-health-education-sectors/
Later, the chief justice visited Quetta Civil Hospital along with incumbent CM Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo where he interacted with patients and visited a strike camp of paramedics and young doctors who were protesting against the government.
About the protesters, the CJP asserted that “we will not tolerate any negligence in provision of rights to the people and discharging of duties”.
