The federal cabinet on Tuesday reviewed and approved a Rs1.2-trillion economic relief package announced by Prime Minister Imran Khan last week as the number of confirmed cases rise exponentially Currently, more than 2,000 people have been confirmed to have contracted the virus, while 33 have lost their lives to it, across Pakistan. The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) had on Monday finalised a Rs1.2-trillion package, including a Rs100-billion supplementary grant, for an Emergency Relief Fund to combat the virus. The ECC had also approved a special package for relief to 12 million poor families through cash assistance under the Ehsaas Programme. Cash grants would be provided under the Kafalat program and emergency cash assistance to the poor on the recommendation of the district administration.

However, Prime Minister Imran Khan has once again did not approve total lockdown across the country as its fallouts outweighed merits regarding containing the spread of coronavirus infections. But it is matter of satisfaction that patients’ recovery rate is on the rise and that of fatalities is on the decline. The experiment of total lockdown in the neighbouring country India has not achieved the intended results. Corona relief fund has been launched and bank account has been opened in the National Bank ofPakistan. Local philanthropists and Pakistani Diaspora has been asked to deposit their donation in this fund. Neither the source of income shall be enquired from the donors not tax shall be levied on the donated amount. Given the track record of impeccable integrity of the Prime Minister and his Zeal and zest as dynamic social worker, donors will give positive response.

Speaking to the media soon after the latest Cabinet meeting, Information SAPM Firdous Ashiq Awan accused the Leader of the Opposition of doing nothing to help out the nation and instead criticising the government for the sake of criticism. This was because Mr Shahbaz Sharif had called for the formation of a parliamentary committee to oversee the spending of the coronavirus-related funds. Similarly Dr Awan told that Prime Minister Imran Khan was annoyed with the PPP’s Sindh government for not easing the movement of goods transport from Karachi. What is more, the PM had tasked Rangers in Sindh to take appropriate measures for movement of the trucks and opening of industries amidst a complete lockdown ordered by the province’s Chief Minister. This amounted to promoting confrontation between the Rangers and the provincial administration. It is argued that the shortage of labour at the Karachi port coupled with the absence of transport on the roads has caused a blockage of imported food items leading to higher prices. The two factors can only lead to a slight increase in prices but no mortalities, as the Sindh government has exempted the food and medicine industry from closure. The lifting of the lockdown before isolating the corona-positive cases would expose the whole province and then the entire country to the pandemic, causing a spurt in the number of deaths. However, there is greater risk of losing jobs by the employees in the private sector, when production and business activities are halted for longer period of time and uncertainty is looming over the business environment. Another noteworthy aspect of the strategy is the formation of volunteer force of youth who will distribute food items among the people at door step in areas under total lockdwn. It will ensure an equitable distribution of relief goods among the deserving people and mimeses the chances of misappropriation. Dr Awan only confirmed the opposition’s suspicions when she said Mr Khan had asked all PTI leaders, MNAs and MPAs to help in the distribution of the corona relief fund. The admission further justifies the opposition’s demand for a parliamentary committee to ensure that the huge amount of Rs 1.4 trillion is not used for political purposes. Transparency requires that the government tell the nation if the state’s important assets are also being mortgaged to back the issuance of Rs 700 billion Domestic Sukuk Bonds(DSBs) as reported by the media.