THE first coronavirus case emerged in the country on Feb 26. Since then the dreaded disease has spread. As things stand today the country is in lockdown.

Although the federal government was not in favour of a lockdown, it was the Sindh government which decided to fight against pandemic Covid-19 by enforcing the lockdown in the province. Followed by the Sindh government’s decision, other provinces also enforced lockdown to curb the pandemic disease.

Owing to the lockdown, all the government departments, educational institutions and markets were closed. Public transport stopped and unnecessary movement of the people has also been restricted.

Besides that, the daily wagers are unable to earn under lockdown, and are passing their days in miserable conditions. The federal and provincial governments had announced a relief package for the daily wagers, but one of two weeks of lockdown has passed, but the federal and provincial governments have failed to provide any relief package to the underprivileged. It is estimated that 24 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line.

It is time the federal and provincial governments came up with a viable programme to implement the relief package without any delay, so that the underprivileged can live a normal life.

Imtiaz Junejo
Hyderabad

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2020