ISLAMABAD, Jan 10 (APP):The government of Balochistan has planned to launch Health Card facility for registered fishermen soon, under which health insurance coverage of Rs 1 million will be provided to 89,886 fishermen of the province, and their families.
The health card will be provided to the fishermen in Gwadar district in the first phase, and the fishermen from Lasbela and Hub would be facilitated later.
Talking to APP, an official of Balochistan government said the objective of the program was to improve the health status of the targeted population through increased access to quality health services, and to reduce poverty through reduction of out-of-pocket payments for health expenditures.
He said currently around 89,886 fishermen were registered in Balochistan and there would be 100 percent coverage under the initiative. “The beneficiaries can avail healthcare services in the public and private hospitals”, he added.
“The provincial government has also launched multiple incentives for fishermen to ensure maximum contribution of fisheries sector in the provincial economy.
“In addition to digitalization, more initiatives would be rolled out soon to boost the sector which remained neglected for the last couple of decades”, he said.
The provincial government was striving hard to provide basic facilities, including clean drinking water and education to uplift the living standard of fishermen thus making them enable to contribute towards economy, he said.
Many projects like, ‘Fish Processing Plant’ at Gwadar, ‘Fisherman Cooperative Housing Society’, ‘Sea Ambulance Service’ and ‘Installation of monitoring system in boats’ were in pipeline, which would eventually increase the potential of the sector, he added.
The roads and other Infrastructure were also being upgraded for easy access of the local fisherman to the port for transporting their fish to the markets, he added.
“The province has a capacity to produce good quality fish and would generate more revenue by providing access to the global market,” he said.
A hospital equipped with latest technology was also being set up at Gwadar to provide the best health facilities to the people of the area.
He said the provincial government had also decided to provide basic facilities to the fishermen and other people associated with the fisheries.
“The government will take more steps to save the fishermen’s livelihood”, he ensured adding the department should complete the land requisition process soon to establish eight new jetties in the coastal areas.
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