Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar said that the irresponsible attitude of the business and traders’ community in particular and people at large in the wake of easing of lockdown may land the whole nation in a disastrous situation.
He was addressing a ceremony organised in honour of social workers, serving during pandemic crisis on front lines and later talking to the media at Governor’s House on Sunday. Sarwar Foundation Chairperson Begum Perveen Sarwar, Akhuwat Chairman Dr Amjad Saqib and other philanthropists were also present on the occasion.
He acknowledged that the middle-class and labour class had largely affected by this corona pandemic crisis. He said that corona infections had become global issue and those fighting in this battle for the causes of humanity deserve salutes of the whole nation. He announced that he would complete his target of providing ration to over a million poor families ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.
Besides the fast spreading dreadful corona infections, Chaudhry Sarwar said the government was facing yet another crisis of provision of food to all those, who had no resources to earn their livelihood in the wake of the ongoing crisis. “Hunger was posing yet another dilemma as it might toll heavily, if businesses were not allowed to open,” he said.
Considering all ground realities including economic hardships, the governor said the government devised a policy to combat corona and simultaneously launched financial assistance programme.
The governor said that over Rs100 billion had so far been distributed among needy to mitigate the economic hardships of poor families and those, who lost jobs during the current economic meltdown. He said the corona pandemic was not Pakistan or governments’ problem but a challenge for whole comity of world nations and added that even the US was facing massive difficulties in handling the pandemic crisis.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the governor said the government made all possible efforts to save people from corona infections and at the same time assisted poor people with ration and financial assistance. With the easing of lockdown to allow the economic cycle to move on, he said, it was now businessmen, traders and public’s responsibility to observe all SOPs at public places to not only protect themselves and their families but people at large.
“Non-observance of SOPs at this critical juncture of time, cost severely on the health of people and healthcare delivery system of the government,” Chaudhry Sarwar said.
He said that the government was continuously trying to facilitate every person in need as per its available resources and added that public support in fighting against corona through safety measures would help the nation to defeat the coronavirus. Chaudhry Sarwar said that he had earlier set a target to provide ration to some 750,000 poor and vulnerable families through the Punjab Development Network but enhanced this target to reach out one million families. “We will complete this target during Ramazan,” the governor announced and added that the government would continue standing with the vulnerable families till this corona pandemic subsides and life returned to normalcy.
