RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: The online All Parties Conference (APC) of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Punjab has challenged the block allocations by the government to combat the economic woes arising out of the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

While addressing a press conference, President PPP Punjab Qamar Zaman Kaira said the APC was attended by the provincial leadership of all the opposition parties. However, no one from the ruling party attended despite invitation.

He said the APC appreciated the medical staffs at hospitals and urged the government to fulfill their needs without delay. He said the APC also appreciated the efforts made by the military and paramilitary forces.

A resolution passed on the occasion paid tribute to Shaheed Dr Usama for his efforts to save the patients of Coronavirus.

He said the APC expressed concerns over the spread of the virus throughout the province of Punjab.

While giving breakup of Rs665 billion relief package of the government, he said Rs100 billion has been allocated for the sales tax refunds, which in actual belongs to the exporters having been paid by them as advance tax.

Similarly, he said, the government has deferred Rs100 billion loans, which again would have no impact on the government revenue. Rs260 billion has been allocated for wheat procurement, which is a regular feature and it should not be included in the efforts to combat coronavirus. He said the government has assessed Rs75 billion as an impact of reduction in the prices of petroleum products, which in actual is of Rs250 billion, therefore, the government should extend more benefit to the public.

He said the government should write off utility bills ranging between Rs3000 – 5000 as simple deferment of the utility bills would not be sufficient, as the consumers would have to pay it after three months.

The government has announced Rs200 billion for labourers but no concrete policy has been given so far. There is no idea that this amount would be disbursed among how many workers in factories, which means that no policy is in place on the part of the government. Rs100 billion has been allocated for agriculture and SMEs but no detail of the same. Rs150 billion has been allocated for the daily wagers but no idea about the number of daily wagers in the country. No mechanism of disbursement is available with the government.

He deplored that the government was not utilizing the data collected under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) to disburse stipends amongst poorest of the poor.

He said the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is the only institution seems operational. The Punjab government has failed to meet the desired needs, he added.