PTI govt finalises economic stimulus plan as COVID-19 tally spikes
Package aimed at offsetting impact of coronavirus outbreak
PHOTO: REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
The federal government has hammered out an economic stimulus package aimed at offsetting the impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak on the working class and industrial sector amid the closure of businesses across the country to stem the rising number of COVID-19 cases.
Adviser to the PM on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh met Special Assistant to the PM on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar on Sunday to discuss and finalise the contours of the special relief package.
During the meeting, different options and proposals were discussed.
Finance Secretary Naveed Akram Baloch, Special Secretary Finance Omar Hamid Khan and other senior officers also attended the meeting.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced on Friday that the package, to be announced on March 24, would protect small industries and people belonging to the lower strata of society from economic hardship.
The package includes special incentives for the construction sector to provide jobs to people and keep the economy running.
To facilitate the poor, a mobile kitchen soup facility has been launched under the government’s flagship poverty alleviation Ehsas programme.
Dr Sania Nishtar inaugurated the first ‘Ehsas-Saylani Langar on Wheels’ unit at the Faizabad bus station, the junction of twin cities Islamabad-Rawalpindi.
Ehsas and the Saylani Welfare International Trust (SWIT) have joined hands to run the facility through which cooked food would be provided to the needy, particularly labourers and daily-wage workers.
Mobile vans aimed to combat hunger will discourage people from congregating at one spot for free food collection and will serve at various points in cities including public places, impoverished neighbourhoods and hospitals while explicitly ensuring dignity and social distance for the safety of people.
As people are at the risk of small income generating opportunities due to the pandemic emergency in the country, this food aid concept will be stretched out soon to a bigger, better and faster scale across all major cities of Pakistan as part of the Ehsas framework.
“Feeding the poor and deserving is central to the prime minister’s vision of a welfare state. Ehsas realizes that the viral outbreak has exacerbated an escalating poverty that will affect labourers and daily-wage workers the most, as people are being bound to stay at homes,” Dr Nishtar told the media on the occasion.
“The Ehsas-Saylani Langar on Wheels will not only address the hunger and nutritional needs of the impoverished, but also provide us with an opportunity to connect with them, respond to their requirements and educate them about precautionary guidelines to fight the war against coronavirus.”
Last year in October, Prime Minister Imran Khan had launched the Ehsas-Saylani Langar initiative to provide free food to the poor, laborers and homeless across the country.
Since then, several Ehsas-Saylani Langars have been opened and several others are under construction to feed the poor.
Under the umbrella of Ehsaas, the Langar on Wheels initiative will expand its capacity through public-private partnership to distribute food by removing barriers that prevent access to underserved areas and will allow for fast and flexible delivery in line with precautionary protocols.
(With input from APP)
The federal government has hammered out an economic stimulus package aimed at offsetting the impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak on the working class and industrial sector amid the closure of businesses across the country to stem the rising number of COVID-19 cases.
Adviser to the PM on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh met Special Assistant to the PM on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar on Sunday to discuss and finalise the contours of the special relief package.
During the meeting, different options and proposals were discussed.
Finance Secretary Naveed Akram Baloch, Special Secretary Finance Omar Hamid Khan and other senior officers also attended the meeting.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced on Friday that the package, to be announced on March 24, would protect small industries and people belonging to the lower strata of society from economic hardship.
The package includes special incentives for the construction sector to provide jobs to people and keep the economy running.
To facilitate the poor, a mobile kitchen soup facility has been launched under the government’s flagship poverty alleviation Ehsas programme.
Dr Sania Nishtar inaugurated the first ‘Ehsas-Saylani Langar on Wheels’ unit at the Faizabad bus station, the junction of twin cities Islamabad-Rawalpindi.
Ehsas and the Saylani Welfare International Trust (SWIT) have joined hands to run the facility through which cooked food would be provided to the needy, particularly labourers and daily-wage workers.
Mobile vans aimed to combat hunger will discourage people from congregating at one spot for free food collection and will serve at various points in cities including public places, impoverished neighbourhoods and hospitals while explicitly ensuring dignity and social distance for the safety of people.
As people are at the risk of small income generating opportunities due to the pandemic emergency in the country, this food aid concept will be stretched out soon to a bigger, better and faster scale across all major cities of Pakistan as part of the Ehsas framework.
“Feeding the poor and deserving is central to the prime minister’s vision of a welfare state. Ehsas realizes that the viral outbreak has exacerbated an escalating poverty that will affect labourers and daily-wage workers the most, as people are being bound to stay at homes,” Dr Nishtar told the media on the occasion.
“The Ehsas-Saylani Langar on Wheels will not only address the hunger and nutritional needs of the impoverished, but also provide us with an opportunity to connect with them, respond to their requirements and educate them about precautionary guidelines to fight the war against coronavirus.”
Last year in October, Prime Minister Imran Khan had launched the Ehsas-Saylani Langar initiative to provide free food to the poor, laborers and homeless across the country.
Since then, several Ehsas-Saylani Langars have been opened and several others are under construction to feed the poor.
Under the umbrella of Ehsaas, the Langar on Wheels initiative will expand its capacity through public-private partnership to distribute food by removing barriers that prevent access to underserved areas and will allow for fast and flexible delivery in line with precautionary protocols.
(With input from APP)