Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday urged the global community to come up with a joint strategy to protect vulnerable segments of society, particularly the labourers, from the adverse impact of the coronavirus.
Addressing the ILO Global Summit on Covid-19 and World of Work, the prime minister said that many countries, including Pakistan, depend on remittances sent by overseas workers. “Though the host countries are also faced with many problems owing to the coronavirus, we need to convince them to be more sympathetic to these labourers,” he added.
Speaking about the on-going pandemic which has yet to peak, the PM said that the future looked bleak and nobody knew when the economy was going to recover. He urged the world community to share experience and exchange ideas till medical science was able to find a cure to the virus.
Sharing the initial lockdown experience of Pakistan, the premier said it rendered daily-wage earners 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,” he added.
Imran also shed light on the Ehsaas Programme. “It is the first time in Pakistan's history that such huge money was disbursed in such a short space of time,” he said stressing that this saved the country from the worst effects of the lockdown.
Addressing the ILO Global Summit on Covid-19 and World of Work, the prime minister said that many countries, including Pakistan, depend on remittances sent by overseas workers. “Though the host countries are also faced with many problems owing to the coronavirus, we need to convince them to be more sympathetic to these labourers,” he added.
Speaking about the on-going pandemic which has yet to peak, the PM said that the future looked bleak and nobody knew when the economy was going to recover. He urged the world community to share experience and exchange ideas till medical science was able to find a cure to the virus.
Sharing the initial lockdown experience of Pakistan, the premier said it rendered daily-wage earners 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,” he added.
Imran also shed light on the Ehsaas Programme. “It is the first time in Pakistan's history that such huge money was disbursed in such a short space of time,” he said stressing that this saved the country from the worst effects of the lockdown.