Skip to main content

Parliamentary committee urges release of arrested traders

ISLAMABAD: The parliamentary committee on Covid-19 on Monday recommended the release of arrested traders and invited the business community to share their concerns caused by the lockdown.

Chairing a meeting of the committee, Senator Syed Shibli Faraz said the government was well aware of the sufferings of traders and mentioned the government’s relief package.

Meanwhile, Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordi­nation Dr Fehmida Mirza said that there was a dire need to formulate a unanimous policy regarding lockdown in the country. She called for cooperative federalism which would create harmony in relief efforts and combating this disease. She also called upon the participants to discuss the policy issues related to coronavirus in the Council of Common Interests.

The business community was represented by FPCCI President Anjum Nisar and Small Traders Association President Ajmal Baloch.

Mr Nisar stressed that the condition of CNIC might be suspended for some time as many importers were selling their items to the investors under the current lockdown conditions instead of routine trading channel.

They pointed out the problems faced by the business community, including traders and the industrialists, and demanded policy decision on rents as shops and offices have been shutdown for more than a month.

Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar responded to the issue of ban on exports to Afghanistan, whereas the Afghan Transit Trade continued through Pakistan.

The minister said that majority of the exports to Afghanistan were food items and, therefore, in order to ensure food security in the country, the ban was imposed.

He added that a single package could not address the issues of all the industrial sectors, and sector-specific packages would be devised by the government.

The committee members demanded that implementation of the decision taken by the committee must be followed in letter and spirit. It was observed that there had to be legal action against the mill owners who laid off their workers and were not paying their outstanding wages.

The committee, unanimously, recommended for the release of arrested traders in Karachi at the earliest.

On the other hand, members of the parliamentary committee belonging to opposition parties deman­ded that the government take strong measures to tackle the current situation and stressed that all the decisions of the government had to be in consultation with the provinces.

The members from Balochistan stressed that for inviting representatives of the farming community in the next meeting of the committee to hear their concerns.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2020



from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/2SbdgUA
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rouhani calls Imran, discusses resumption of trade

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Iran on Wednesday discussed full resumption of bilateral trade, which was halted last month because of the Covid-19 pandemic. “The two sides stressed the need to reactivate borders and border markets and strengthen trade ties by following health guidelines,” a statement issued by the Iranian presidency on the telephonic conversation between Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Dr Hassan Rouhani said. President Rouhani had called the prime minister for Ramazan greetings. Border trade between the two countries was suspended after a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC), held on March 13, decided to close all borders because of the pandemic. Islamabad partially relaxed the restrictions on April 21, allowing the import of certain food items and provision of petrol and diesel to the border areas. Cargo traffic from Iran was allowed for three days every week. Cargo movement between the two countries takes place through five border crossings — Taftan...
Post a Comment
Read more

Today’s outlook: Sindh CM discusses reopening markets with PM Khan

Here are some of the stories we are expecting to follow today (Thursday): Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah will take Prime Minister Imran Khan into confidence over reopening shops and markets across the province. The reopened markets will have to follow SOPs. Sindh Transport Minister Awais Qadir Shah will discuss SOPs with transporters for resuming public transport in the coming days. The meeting will be held at the Sindh Assembly building at 1:30pm. The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority has proposed a price cut of Rs20.68 per litre for petrol in its summary. Imam-e-Kaaba Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais has said Masjid Al Haram and Masjid Al Nabawi will be reopened for worshipers soon. He said the Kaaba is being sterilised using latest technologies. Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar will head various meetings during his visit to Bahawalpur. As of Thursday, Pakistan has reported more than 15,500 confirmed coronavirus cases. ICYMI: An amendment to the National Accountability Or...
Post a Comment
Read more

If Pakistani elderly self-distance infections could drop 30%: study

If we do nothing, COVID-19 could infect 206 million Pakistanis and kill 691,000. This is the estimation of researchers from the Imperial College London COVID-19 Response Team who have published country-wise projections in a March 26 report ‘ The Global Impact of COVID-19 and Strategies for Mitigation and Suppression ’ Furthermore, using an infection fatality rate from China, this means 4.4 million Pakistanis would require hospitalisation and from among those, 917,000 individuals would require critical care. Pakistan has a population of 220 million people. The research is based on the infection fatality rate from China, country health care system capacities and that one person with coronavirus is likely to infect 3 others. (You can find the excel sheet with Pakistan numbers here: Imperial-College-COVID19-Global-unmitigated-mitigated-suppression-scenarios.xlsx ) Forty-seven researchers crunched the numbers and made these projections to give countries, including Pakistan, some idea of...
Post a Comment
Read more