THE Federal Cabinet, which met in Islamabad on Tuesday with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair, devoted much of its time and energy on recollecting the appropriate strategy the Government adopted to handle the first wave of Coronavirus, which attracted appreciation of the world community. The meeting was informed that Pakistan was the first country to take into account the negative effects of the coronavirus lockdown and make timely decisions, while pandemic in India increased poverty.
There is no denying the fact that the country successfully handled the initial phase through a combination of measures by federal and provincial governments as well as cooperation of the citizens in terms of social distancing, mask wearing and hand-sanitizing. Experts urged the government to go for a long-drawn lockdown to curb the spread of the virus but the Centre decided to opt for gradual opening of different sectors of economy and this helped mitigate economic and financial sufferings of the people. Notwithstanding a recent report by a neutral agency that the bulky relief package of Rs.1,200 billion has not been utilized fully, the disbursement of cash under Ehsaas Programme in a prompt manner came as a genuine relief to the people. It is also because of timely reopening of different sectors that the economy is now on the right track. However, these gains might be lost due to carelessness of the government and the masses as is being witnessed during the second wave. The number of infection cases is rising sharply and there are reasons to believe that the number could climb to alarming levels if testing is increased. Patients complain of lack of testing facilities and this is also evident from the fact that the Capital’s largest medical facility – Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) – is carrying out tests of only its own staff and not the general public due to shortage of kits. Similarly, tracking, follow-up and administrative steps like ‘smart lockdowns’ are not being pursued as vigorously as in the past and as a consequence people are exposed to virus. Therefore, instead of focusing its attention on what it did, which, of course, was commendable, the government should concentrate on the prevailing situation, which might ultimately lead to nation-wide lockdown if prompt corrective measures were not taken. As for the Broadsheet issue, the transparency demands all aspects of the scandal should thoroughly be investigated, otherwise findings of the judicial commission would lack credibility.
