Sit-ins, lockdowns caused over Rs1.5b in losses over last seven years

The interior ministry informed the National Assembly on Thursday that the grand total of the estimated loss in financial terms to the economy due to sit-ins and lockdowns in different cities of the country during the last seven years was over Rs1.5 billion —Rs1,507,197,263 to be precise.

The 2014 sit-in staged in the capital by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) cost Rs755,979,001, while the PTI and PAT rallies caused a loss of Rs2,510,812 in Punjab.

From 2012 to 2018, the total financial loss in the federal capital stood at Rs1,161,255,526 while the same gatherings caused losses of Rs316,558,637 in Punjab and Rs29,383,100 in K-P.

The details emerged in response to a question from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Rana Sanaullah, who had asked the interior ministry to share details of each sit-in and lockdown in the last seven years.

In his reply, Minister for Interior Ijaz Ahmad Shah said that the quantification of losses to the economy in financial terms does not fall under the domain of the interior ministry, saying it is for the Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Division and the Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Division to calculate the impact.

The minister, however, stated that “information pertaining to the losses incurred during the last seven years due to sit-ins and the law and order situation has been collected after great efforts from ICT Administration and home departments of provincial governments”.

The ministry’s reply states that no financial losses were caused in Sindh and Balochistan.