Minister Orders Plan to Ensure Hygiene in Govt Hospitals

Punjab Minister for Local Government and Community Development (LG&CD) Zeeshan Rafiq has said the provincial government would introduce a permanent and effective cleanliness mechanism in public hospitals across Punjab.

Chairing a meeting at the Suthra Punjab Authority office here on Saturday, the minister reviewed proposals for preparing a comprehensive plan to improve sanitation standards in government hospitals.

Additional Secretary Mehreen Faheem Abbasi and Additional Director General of the Suthra Punjab Authority Aurangzeb also attended the meeting.

The minister said the chief minister had directed authorities to ensure regular cleaning of hospital wards, corridors, lawns and washrooms throughout the province.

He added that additional resources would be provided to maintain cleanliness standards in public hospitals and instructed the Suthra Punjab Authority to prepare a detailed implementation plan.

The meeting also reviewed progress on the Waste-to-Value program.

The minister was informed that pilot projects were under way in Lakhodair (Lahore), Faisalabad, Sialkot and Sheikhupura, while non-landfill waste disposal production was being carried out in Dera Ghazi Khan and Chakwal.

Zeeshan Rafiq said case studies being conducted by university scholars in collaboration with the Suthra Punjab Authority had reached the final stage, adding that future initiatives for waste utilisation would be implemented in line with experts’ recommendations.

He said the government was committed to converting accumulated waste into valuable resources through biogas, organic fertiliser and other energy-generation projects. He added that an experimental biogas production unit using animal waste was already producing output in Lahore.

The meeting also reviewed the performance of Suthra Punjab agencies across the province. The Additional Director General briefed the minister on their progress.

Zeeshan Rafiq said the establishment of district-level agencies had strengthened the monitoring system at the grassroots level and directed officials to submit performance reports of all district managing directors.