PM urges global strategy to protect labour class

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged the world community to formulate a combined strategy to protect the vulnerable segments of the society especially the labourers from the impacts of COVID-19.

Addressing an online ILO Global Summit on titled ‘COVID-19 and the World of Work’, the prime minister pointed out that many countries including Pakistan depend upon remittances sent by the overseas workers.

He said though the host countries are also faced with many problems due to coronavirus, yet we need to convince them to be more sympathetic to labourers and the working class.

Imran Khan emphasized that the lockdown has hit the labour community the most. He said the future is very uncertain as we do not know how long the economy will take to recover from the impacts of the pandemic.

He said we are praying that vaccines come out as a cure to the virus but in the meantime we need to share our experiences and exchange ideas to protect our vulnerable groups.

Sharing the initial lockdown experience of Pakistan, the prime minister said it rendered our daily wage workers and labourers unemployed. Hence, he said the government came up with the smart lockdown strategy under which public gatherings were stopped but other activities were allowed like reopening of construction and agriculture sectors.

PM Imran Khan said government provided cash assistance to the labourers under Ehsaas Program. He said it was the first time in Pakistan’s history that such a huge money was disbursed in such a short space of time. He said this saved us from the worst effects of the lockdown.