PASNI is a coastal city which falls under the administrative jurisdiction of Gwadar district and has an administrative status of a tehsil. The local population continues to live without a lot of facilities. Banking, for example, is not a facility available to the locals who have to face several challenges for making transactions, withdrawing cash and using their debit cards.

The city hosts only a few banks of which only three have ATMs and they are not functional most of the times. The banks witness a footfall when salaries and BISP payments are deposited. And while it is a routine thing to wait for ATMs to restart functioning normally, the current Covid-19 situation is not quite ideal for being part of a long queue. And yet, it happens all the time.

Muhammad Naseem
Pasni

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2020