Prime Minister Imran Khan Tuesday said that the poor segments of society deserves subsidies and grants and stressed upon a targeted subsidy system which could provide further relief to the poor and those living in backward areas.
During a meeting of the federal cabinet, he further observed that at present, subsidy was being equally available to the rich and the poor segments of society. He directed that a comprehensive review of all sectors, should be carried out where a targeted subsidy to the poor and backward areas could be provided. He also asked for submission of a complete planning with implementation period.
The federal cabinet approved wheat support price at the rate of Rs 1,650 per 40 kilogrammes for coming Rabi crop. Briefing the media persons about the decisions of the federal cabinet, Minister for Information Senator Shibli Faraz said that the cabinet thoroughly discussed the issue of wheat support price and input of cabinet members most of whom were public representatives was taken. He said that issue was being debated for quite some time and it was also taken up in the Economic Coordination Committee (ECCC) in its previous meeting. He said that both consumers and the farmers would be happy with this price as its objective was to protect the masses from high prices of flour but at the same time give farmers good prices for their produce.
He said that while discussing the Covid-19 situation, the cabinet after detailed discussion, reiterated that there would be no restrictions on those sectors which are linked with job opportunities and creation of wealth. He said the cabinet viewed that strict restrictions will be imposed on other sectors to save the lives of the people. He said that in the first phase the impact of coronavirus pandemic in Pakistan was far less than other countries, but now its cases were increasing and there was a need to strictly adopt precautionary measures.
While replying to the questions of media persons, Senator Shibli Faraz appreciated the self-discipline and accountability mechanism of the armed forces in relation to the Karachi incident. He said that military side has done its job and now the Sindh government should set an example with regards to how the police offices resorted to a sort of mutiny and fix the responsibility how it all happened. It should also check why the FIR was not registered initially by the relevant SHO, which led to a resentment and reaction from public and pressure came on the Rangers and they approached high official of police to sort out this issue. The minister was of the opinion that the Sindh government should ensure that discipline is maintained by all and the IG also conduct an inquiry regarding his officers.
To a question about non-compliance of SOPs with regards to the Covid-19, Shibli Faraz appealed to the people to be extremely careful and adhere to the discipline, observed during the first wave of the virus, as the pandemic was dangerous. He said an awareness campaign was also being launched to sensitise people about following SOPs and wearing mask, as if people did not care about this, then again hospitals might face pressure beyond capacity to deal with corona cases.
