F.P. Report MARDAN: Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, paid a day-long visit to Mardan district on Wednesday, where he inaugurated different development projects worth billions of rupees. The Chief Minister inaugurated the newly constructed gymnasium at the Mardan Sports Complex and also laid the foundation stone for the upgradation and standardization of the sports complex. The gymnasium has been completed at a total cost of Rs. 335 million, while the upgradation project of the Mardan Sports Complex is estimated at Rs. 363.494 million. The project includes a boundary wall, cricket ground, footpaths, internal roads, walking track, ground for persons with different abilities, water filtration plant, cricket academy, and other allied facilities. The Chief Minister also inaugurated Children’s Hospital in Mardan. The hospital, comprising 200 beds, has been completed at a total cost of Rs. 2,607 million. It includes emergency, OPD, laboratory, pharmacy, and all other allied facilities. Furthermore, the Chief Minister inaugurated sub-projects of the Kundal Dam in Swabi district. The dam stands 157 feet high and 1,047 feet long, with a total storage capacity of 10,395 acre-feet. The command area of the project is 13,340 acres. Around 40,000 people will benefit from the project in agriculture, and it will also supply water to about 30,000 people. Villages such as Kundal, Panjmand, Babeen, Jhanda, Boka, and Tatalia will be direct beneficiaries of the scheme. Addressing a public gathering on the occasion, Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur said that it is the government’s responsibility to provide facilities to citizens’ at their doorstep. “We are working with the vision that hospitals must offer treatment, schools impart education and government offices provide services,” he stated. He emphasized that a hospital is defined by the availability of healthcare services, not merely by the structure of a building. He urged elected public representatives and the public to focus on the timely completion of development projects. “We are spending taxpayers’ money on the people. Public money belongs to the people, and they must take ownership and help to ensure the quality of development projects,” he added. The Chief Minister mentioned that when he assumed office, medical treatment under the Sehat Card plus was suspended and there were outstanding dues of Rs. 17 billion. Similarly, other departments had liabilities billions, which are now being cleared. Under the vision of PTI’s founder chairman Imran Khan, his government took measures that have made Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the richest province in the country. “We introduced reforms and recovered money that was getting wasted in the system. Over the past 13 months, we have not taken a single rupee in loans—instead, we have repaid Rs. 50 billion in debt,” he noted. He stressed that self-reliance is essential, and nations dependent on loans cannot be sovereign or dignified. The upcoming annual budget, he said, will be aligned with his vision, featuring only those projects that focus on public welfare and are completed within their stipulated timelines. The Chief Minister further said his government is completing development projects that have been pending for years. Major development schemes will be included in the Annual Development Program (ADP), while elected representatives will be given Rs. 500 million each for smaller projects. Additionally, every constituency will receive Rs. 2 billion in development funds in the next budget, he added. The Chief Minister asserted that under the National Finance Commission (NFC), the province is constitutionally entitled to an additional Rs. 256 billion annually, which is not being provided. He emphasized that the provincial government is actively pursuing this matter at every forum and called for collective effort to fight for their rights. By expressing optimism that the province is very close to securing its due rights and affirmed his belief that, through unity, they will make the province self-sufficient in every respect.