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Lahore: Prime Minister Imran Khan’s emphasis this week at most public events has by and large been on the need to bridge the gap between the poor and rich in Pakistan. He says his mission now is to eliminate poverty from across Pakistan.
He inaugurated the Jinnah Express train in a ceremony held in Lahore on Saturday where he again spoke on the need for cheaper travel options for the masses.
The non-stop train will run between Lahore Junction and Karachi Cantt from March 31.
It will leave Karachi daily from 3pm and reach Lahore the next day at 7:30am. The train will make four stops at the Hyderabad, Rohri, Khanewal and Lahore Cantt junctions before reaching the main Lahore junction.
The fare has been set at Rs6,500 for an adult and Rs4,900 for a child passenger.
The railways will provide breakfast, dinner, refreshments, WiFi and other travelling facilities in this fare.
Earlier, Rs 7,000 for an adult and Rs 5,250 for a child was fixed for the Jinnah Express.
“The old prime ministers thought of themselves to be kings. They passed around orders. But since I am a democratic prime minister I follow a budget where funds are distributed according to priority,” said PM Khan.
In principle, I absolutely feel the salary of the poor need to be increased due to rising expenses, he said.
The premier said he aims to provide health cards to all Pakistanis, especially to the underprivileged groups of society. “No time is more difficult for a family than when someone in the family is sick and they are unable to pay for the treatment. It’s the most helpless situation a human can be in,” he said, explaining that this is why the initiative of health cards is being started for the poor sections of society first.
The health card would ensure a family has insurance worth Rs720,000.
The premier, however, clarified that he would confirm the plan for provision of health cards after speaking to Finance Minister Asad Umar and discussing whether the budget has the capacity to accommodate such an initiative.
“I don’t want to make false promises,” he told the public. I don’t want to announce something and find out later that we don’t have the money for it, said PM Khan.
He reiterated Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed’s point on how Pakistan, instead of extending the rail tracks laid out by the British like the rest of world, had gone back 2000 kilometres. “The common man travels by train across the world. Those with money drive cars and need motorways. This reflects on us and our priorities as a society,” he said, adding that instead of facilitating the masses, we have been catering to the needs of the elite class.
If we have Rs100, he said, our priorities will reflect on how we decide to use that money and on what. Pakistan’s history has shown that the majority of this Rs100 goes to the elite class. “Look at how much is being spent on English medium schools and then compare it with investment made into Urdu medium schools,” he said.
The most important exam of civil service is taken in English, he said. “How many people get the opportunity to give an exam in English?” he asked.
We need to improve our railways system for the masses and develop it to ease the pressure on road traffic. He said he would immediately go to the Ministry of Petroleum and direct them to use trains for transport of fret as it is cheaper and better. He said this would improve the revenue received by the railways as well.
