PM’s address

Prime Minister Imran Khan has reiterated his firm position that there will be no full lockdown in the country as a measure to fight novel coronavirus which has claimed the lives of 25 Pakistanis, besides infecting nearly 1,900 others, as of Tuesday. The Prime Minister — while addressing the nation for a third time in about two weeks — based his stance on the argument that the 25% population of the country living below the poverty line would not be able to withstand such a harsh measure; and since a cash-strapped government is in no position to cater to them, a lockdown would not be sustainable.

The first time Prime Minister Imran had ruled out a lockdown, he had drawn a severe reaction from almost all quarters — but not this time around. This may have been because of a low number of cases of the infection and fatalities in the country currently, in comparison with the numbers in the neighbouring Iran as well as developed countries like the US, the UK, Italy and Spain. However, this relatively comfortable situation in our country must not turn the government complacent, and the PM and his whole team must keep a vigilant eye on the situation as it develops and be open to the option of beefing up the lockdown if and when needed.

The Prime Minister, meanwhile, also announced several measures as part of the government’s response to contain the virus. The measures include a PM’s Corona Relief Fund, assuring tax relief on donations and exemption from declaring the source of funding; a Corona Tiger Force to work alongside law-enforcers and administration personnel for provision of relief to those in need; provision of loans from SBP to the business concerns not terminating their employees; and opening up registration for those needing ration and those willing to provide it on the Facebook page of the Ehsaas programme.

It’s good to see the PM mobilise the government machinery to deal with the corona crisis. But national calamities demand a national response. While there was the need to come up a collective national action, the PM’s response package is richly embossed with PTI insignias like Tiger Force and Ehsaas programme. 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 1^st, 2020.

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