Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged the world community to formulate a combined strategy to protect the vulnerable segments of the society especially labourers from the impact of Covid-19.
The premier was addressing an online ILO Global Summit on Covid-19 and the World of Work.
The prime minister pointed out that many countries including Pakistan depend upon remittances sent by the overseas workers.
He said though the host countries are also faced with many problems due to Coronavirus, “yet we need to convince them to be more sympathetic to these labourers.”
Khan pointed out that the lockdown has hit the labour community the most.
“The future is very uncertain as we do not know how long the economy will take to recover from the impacts of the pandemic,” the prime minister stressed.
“We are praying that vaccines come out as a cure to the virus but in the meantime we need to share our experiences and exchange ideas to protect our vulnerable groups,” he added.
Sharing the initial lockdown experience of Pakistan, the prime minister said “it had rendered our daily wage workers and labourers unemployed.”
“Hence, we came up with the smart lockdown idea under which public gatherings were stopped but we allowed other activities like reopening of construction and agriculture sectors,” the prime minister pointed out.
The Pakistani government has provided cash assistance to labourers under the Ehsaas Programme after completing their registration process, the prime minister said.
He said it was the first time in the country’s history that such a huge amount of money was disbursed in such a short space of time.
“This has saved us from the worst effects of the lockdown,” the prime minister stressed.
Meanwhile, President Dr Arif Alvi has called for enhanced co-ordination among the Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS), ministry of national health services and the national disaster management authority (NDMA) to effectively respond to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Alvi was speaking during a presentation given by PRCS, chairman Abrar-ul-Haq in Islamabad.
The president asked the Pakistan Red Crescent Society to further increase its outreach and provide medical help to the people affected by coronavirus.
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