‘PML-N issues policies on vaccination, education, economy during Covid-19

ISLAMABAD: The PML-N has shared comprehensive policies on vaccination, education and economy under Covid-19 in a working session of PILDAT.

While sharing PML-N’s policies on various issues in a press conference after a working session organized by PILDAT, member economic advisory council of PML-N, Senator Musadik Masood Malik, stressed on ensuring early and equitable access to vaccination and its policy was prioritisation of the target population, starting from frontline health workers, paramedical staff, and immune-compromised, people followed by teachers, nomads and the rest of the population. He said according to the party policy, the PML-N believed in establishing a database to enable people to register themselves and for the purpose of monitoring.

Senator Musadik Malik said vaccination centres should be established, while the existing trained vaccinators should also be used. “A suitable vaccine should be established based on various factors, including logistics, cold chain and capacity management as per the PML-N policy,” he added. He said the marginalised segments of the society are to be given free vaccination. On management of the impact of coronavirus on economy, Senator Malik said the PML-N updated policy, emphasising on free of cost distribution of masks in low-income areas.

Musadik Malik said the PML-N policy supported the complete adherence to SOPs and penalizing those who violated the SOPs. He said the PML-N policy is to provide aid and tax relief to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) approach, along with deferment of electricity bills till June 2021. He said the PML-N policy emphasised smart taxation as a measure to generate revenue without significantly increasing economic burden on the people. He said the PML-N policy highlighted importance of supporting agriculture sector affected by the virus through relief packages to affected farmers and loans mechanism for small farmers.

Malik said the party policy is to provide assistance to citizens, who have lost their jobs during the pandemic through the expansion of Ehsaas/BISP Programme, along with increased amount and extending the scope of the programme. He said the PML-N policy stressed on the parliamentary oversight on all economic measures to manage the pandemic. Malik said the PML-N policy also supported enrolling in the IMF programme to cover external debt repayment. He said the party’s policy on education elaborated that schools should not be closed except in those areas, where mortality rate went above 100 per million.

Musadik said the party believed that if there was a complete closure of on-campus education, students and parents should be informed beforehand to prepare for online classes and tuition fees needed to be reduced to one-third of the actual fees.