PRIME MINISTER Imran Khan on Friday ruled out the
imposition of another lockdown in the country amid
sharp rise in the Coronavirus cases and deaths in recent days following easing of restrictions by the Government with the nationwide tally of infections surging past 90,000 and the fatalities toll exceeding 1,800. Summarizing the ground reality in a televised address to the Corona Relief Tiger Force, he pointed out “Coronavirus would spread and you cannot stop it” adding that the country, therefore, needs the services of Tiger Force.
Hundreds of thousands of people were enrolled for the Tiger Force with the stated objective of helping the Administration check the spread of the deadly virus and provide relief to the people affected by lockdown or smart lockdown. Later, responsibility of identifying hoarders was also added to their mandate despite reservations being expressed by some circles that this would amount to interference in the role, responsibility and powers of the Local Administration. There is unanimity of views that the country is passing through the peak of the virus and Tiger Force should have been in the lead role in combating its spread but it is nowhere to be seen. There seems to be lack of planning and coordination on the part of the Government which is also evident from the fact that even the Prime Minister has declared that they knew the number of cases would rise sharply after lifting of restrictions. If the Government knew then why a comprehensive mechanism was not evolved to benefit from the services of the Tiger Force that has its presence in every nook and corner of the country. In case of timely mobilization of the Force, the task of tracking and identifying the infected people would have become much easier and the authorities concerned would have been in a better position to handle the situation. The government needs to act swiftly not just to mobilize the force but also hold it responsible for any slackness on the part of the people in observance of safety precautions, non-identification of infected people and prompt provision of relief goods to the affected communities.
