Islamabad: President Dr Arif Alvi, said in his address to the joint session of the Parliament on Thursday, that Pakistan is countering with its most challenging time after the recent floods hit most parts of the country. He lauded the Pakistan Army, provincial and federal governments for their hard work during the catastrophic floods that caused massive destruction across the country this year.
Addressing the session, where most of the parliamentarian were absent, president Alvi expressed that the biggest problem Pakistan was facing today were the catastrophic floods that wreaked havoc across the country and rendered millions homeless.
“I want to felicitate the Pakistan Army for helping victims while sacrificing their lives. The federal and provincial governments, PDMA (Provincial Disaster Management Authority), and NDMA (National Disaster Management Authority) all worked hard on the ground. I thank all of them, Alvi Added.”
Dr Alvi pointed out that if the relief work was not done on time, the human and economic losses from the floods would have been higher.
Pakistan’s contribution to global warming was not even 1 per cent, but the country was suffering the most, he said. “I want to commend agencies and the government for the way they worked. I believe they deserve commendation.
The president said that the disastrous floods had damaged crops spread over acres and underscored the need for crop insurance.
“Agriculture is our economic backbone. We must look towards countries that are progressing in this sector.
“The Netherlands is 19 times smaller than Pakistan but it progressed so much on the agricultural front, and my country should have progressed more in this field. If we adopt a scientific approach, Pakistan can beat the world,” he stated.
Dr Alvi also said that the recent floods had, once again, raised the demand for building dams.
Bringing the parliament’s attention towards education, Dr Alvi warned against neglecting the youth as he called for the inclusion of children who were out of school. “Members of parliament must focus on this.
“I have spoken to ulema that mosques should have sessions to provide school education. If you can’t provide education to children, give them skills,” he highlighted.
The president said that online education could be used for infusing knowledge among the youth. “There are good education institutions that can help in this initiative.
Pakistan also needed to build a mechanism to provide employment to the people, he added.
In the field of science and technology, Alvi stressed that children needed to be prepared for the future. “Several smaller countries are ahead of Pakistan in cyber power while our policies are weak in this respect.”
Our defence establishment needed cyber power to protect the utilities and financial institutions, he said, adding that in the future, wars would be fought in the cyber world, hence, Pakistan needed to focus on that.
Moving to the health sector, President Alvi emphasized the provision of contraceptives, saying that when economies improved, family sizes shrunk.
He appreciated the Benazir Income Support Programme and Ehsaas Poverty Alleviation Programme for their performance. He also thanked the Bill Gates Foundation for its polio eradication efforts in the country.
During his speech, Dr Alvi particularly highlighted the importance of curing diseases linked to mental illnesses stressing that there were society’s “silent killers”
“We need to make cures affordable and increase the number of medical practitioners. We need to raise awareness about telehealth helplines and educate the poor segments of our society regarding it.”
The president said that women should be given chances to work in public offices and urged lawmakers to work on eliminating harassment.
