ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday held telephonic discussion with President of Iran Dr Hasan Rouhani and Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill&Melinda Gates Foundation, and discussed the issues of coronavirus and polio eradication.
In discussion with the Iranian president, the prime minister exchanged views on the current situation of COVID-19 and locust spread in the bordering of areas of Pakistan and Iran.
According to the Prime Minister Office, the prime minister received a telephone call from the president of Iran in the context of greetings for the holy month of Ramazan. The two leaders exchanged views on recent situation of COVID-19 and locust spread in the bordering areas of Pakistan and Iran.
Meanwhile, Imran Khan spoke to Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill&Melinda Gates Foundation, to discuss the latest developments surrounding the COVID-19 response and polio eradication in Pakistan.
During the conversation, the prime minister expressed appreciation for the support provided by the Gates Foundation and other international partners during this unprecedented crisis and emphasised the continued urgency of the situation.
Imran Khan stated that Pakistan was making all efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic with a robust and coordinated response. He emphasised that Pakistan was facing a dual challenge of overcoming the pandemic and saving people, particularly the most vulnerable segments of the population, from hunger due to lockdown.
He underlined that the government had put together a $8 billion package to support the affected people and businesses. Steps taken by the government have helped in containing the spread of coronavirus in Pakistan. The prime minister’s call for “Global Initiative on Debt Relief” for the developing countries is in the same context.
Gates mentioned how COVID-19 was a threat across the world. He commended Pakistan’s efforts in protecting the lives and livelihoods of vulnerable populations.
Imran Khan and Bill Gates also discussed their shared priority of polio eradication. They discussed the important role that Pakistan’s polio staff and infrastructure are playing in the fight against COVID-19. The polio teams are supporting the training of frontline polio health workers on COVID-19, and using contact tracing, testing and communications methods to curb transmission.
In the context of the pandemic, they also discussed, that routine immunisation programmes for children, especially polio vaccination, cannot be ignored, as well as, the need for capacity enhancement of the National Institute of Health (NIH).
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan and Special Assistant on Social Protection Dr Sania Nishtar discussed the use of the PM Corona Relief Fund for the poor families.
The prime minister has also issued directions to the Establishment Division for implementation of the new rules, ‘Directory Retirement from Service, Rules, 2020’, which were notified on April 15. Rule 6 of the rules provides thateach division, department of office shall maintain a list of civil servants, who have completed requisite length of service under Section 13 of the Civil Servants Act, 1973 and carry out a review of their performance.
Upon a mandatory review, if requisite grounds of retirement are observed in light of rule 5 of rules, such cases will be then referred by the cadre administrators to the respective Retirement Board or Retirement Committees as the case may be.
The communication sent to the Establishment Division says that since the rules now come to force, the prime minister has been pleased to direct the Establishment Division, being custodian of the rules, to circulate necessary instructions to all ministries, divisions, departments, cadre administrators to proceed in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Servants (Directory Retirement from Service) Rules, 2020.
Accordingly, the exercise required to be carried out by the cadre administrators in terms of rule 6 of the rules shall be completed within a period of one month, positively and the Establishment Division shall proceed further accordingly.
Meanwhile, Member National Assembly Amjad Khan Niazi called on Prime Minister Imran Khan. Public issues of his constituency and development related matters were discussed during the meeting.