Relief package insufficient

LAHORE:The Awami Workers Party (AWP) has said the government’s economic relief package to deal with the Coronavirus crisis impact on working class is positive initiative in the right direction. However, it is insufficient to address the enormity of the challenge facing the country today.

In a joint statement, the AWP president Yousuf Mustikhan, general secretary Akhtar Hussain, deputy secretary Ismat Shahjehan, Sindh chapter president Dr Bakhshal Thalhu, KP president Haider Zaman and Punjab president Ammar Rashid said there is a need for new social contract between state and the people and reprioritising of concepts about security and development to come out of this crisis.

They said an increase of Rs1,000 in the BISP stipend for regular beneficiaries to Rs3,000 a month, and emergency relief payments of Rs12,000 to 10 million households is not enough to offset the economic burden on the working class and the poor.

The working class households need more than a one-off payment of Rs12,000, and a comprehensive economic relief and the package must take into account both the immediate needs of the most vulnerable and long-term transformation of economy to serve working people, they said.

“AWP believes the scale of this crisis, in which 12 to 15 million workers are likely to lose their livelihoods, requires a response on the same scale,” the statement read.

The AWP leaders demanded a basic payment of Rs20,000 to the poorest 15 million households for a period of three months to enable workers in these families to stay at home to protect themselves and those around them from the virus and afford basic necessities at the same time.

The AWP leaders called for immediate redistributive measures, including a 10 to 20 percent cut in salaries of Grade-19 and above officers, with greater cuts for the highest grades.

The economic package offers Rs200 billion in relief to construction sector and exporters without specifying any conditions for the use of this money.

AWP believed that any bailout for industrialists and exporters must be linked with paid leave for all permanent and contractual workers for the period of this crisis to ensure that workers are not pushed into unemployment and further deprivation.

All textile and garment workers who have been laid off from factories must be reinstated immediately with the government assuming responsibility for half of the wage bill of all factory workers. Their incomes and health must be at the core of any deal made with industrialists or exporters.

They demanded cancellation of payments of all utility bills below 500 units for the next two months. The AWP also demanded nationalisation of power generation projects to bring down costs as the capacity payments of Independent Power Producers (IPPs) have crippled the government’s fiscal capacity.

Steps against Covid-19 praised: Civil Society Organisations have appreciated measures taken by all the governments across Pakistan, including lockdown and seeking military assistance to curb the spread of Covid-19.

They lauded the role of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMAs) for taking appropriate measures to provide quarantine facilities to affected people as well as making sure the availability of sanitizers and masks in the market.

They said a lot of people were out of work and hence a moratorium needed to be passed on all forms of evictions; be it due to non payment of rents, confiscation or other punishments due to non payment of loans especially for poor strata of society. They demanded that State Bank of Pakistan and other banks should be asked to be extremely lenient towards small scale borrowers, and Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs), including minimum balance penalties and waiving off banking charges. They demanded the government order social welfare schemes like Ehsas Programme, Benazir Income Support Programme and other companies, institutions, private sector organisations and charitable organisations to pay at least part of their salaries to all their employees, particularly daily-wagers, in form of cash grants.