ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan has assured the donations in PM’sRelief Fund for Covid-19 will be transparently disbursed amongst thedeserving families affected by the breakout of Coronavirus.
He was speaking in Islamabad today (Saturday) after launching a web portalto register and provide assistance to those who have lost their jobs due tolockdown.
The Prime Minister said he is personally monitoring the relief fund and itsdetails will be shared with the public after audit.
Imran Khan said the government will contribute four rupees for each rupeedonated to the relief fund. He said our aim is to reach out the maximumnumber of people during these testing times.
Giving details of the web portal, Imran Khan said those who have lost jobsdue to lockdown can get themselves registered on theehsaaslabour.nadra.gov.pk to get the assistance of twelve thousand rupees.He asked the volunteers and Tiger Force to help these people get themregistered on the website. He said the registered people will bescrutinized and the cash assistance will be given to the qualifying ones.He said the cash assistance will be given totally on merit irrespective ofthe political affiliations of the recipients.
The Prime Minister said eighty-one billion rupees have been disbursed underEhsaas Emergency Cash Program to 6.8 million poor and deserving familiesover a period of three weeks. He said it is first time in the country’shistory that such a hefty amount has been disbursed in a short span oftime. He added that the program would be taken forward.
Alluding to the opening of businesses in different parts of the worldincluding New York, the Prime Minister said we have also decided to fullyopen the construction industry as it will provide job opportunitiesespecially to the labourers. He said we have given unprecedented incentivesto the construction industry.
Imran Khan said the government has also endeavoured to put minimum burdenon the masses amidst coronavirus. He said we have substantially reduced theprices of petroleum products which are currently the lowest in thesub-continent. He said he has directed the provincial chief secretaries toensure that the benefit of this decline in petroleum prices is alsoreflected in the prices of essential commodities.
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The Prime Minister once again appealed to the people to demonstratediscipline and follow precautionary measures to support government’sefforts to contain the spread of the virus. He said those testing positivefor the disease should quarantine themselves in their homes.
Speaking on the occasion, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister onPoverty Alleviation and Social Protection Dr. Sania Nishtar said Pakistanis the first developing country, which has given immediate relief to itscitizens affected by Coronavirus pandemic.
Explaining process of registration with the web portal under EhsaasEmergency Cash Programme, she said the second phase of the programme isfocused on providing relief to labour class, who have lost their jobs dueto ongoing lockdown amid coronavirus pandemic.
In his remarks, Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar saidthe government has taken concrete measures to provide relief to smallbusinesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic
He said the government’s measures include reduction of the interest rate,unprecedented tax incentives for the construction sector and interest-freeloan scheme for small businesses.
Hammad Azhar expressed the confidence that the government would pay theelectricity bills for up to three months for small businesses whoseconsumption was between five to 70 kilowatts of electricity per month.
