Half of working class either lost salaries or jobs in PTI misrule: Bilawal

ISLAMABAD: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has expressed deep concern over the unprecedented rise in unemployment and said almost half of the country’s working class has either lost their salaries or their jobs during the 32 months of the PTI’s misrule.

“Imran Khan had claimed that 2020 would be ‘the year of jobs’, but his government has only overseen mass unemployment,” he said in a statement Thursday. Bilawal said the PTI’s manifesto had promised to create 10 million jobs, but the youth are wandering in the country with degrees and the government has failed in creating employment. He said no government in country’s history had such anti-employment policies as the current one.

He said the minimum unemployment ratio during the PPP government was 0.42 percent, while under the PML-N it reached 4.08 percent and under the PTI government’s 32-month stint in power it had already increased to 4.45 percent. “The PPP government had created employment for more than six million youths across the country and in return the PPP leadership faced false and fabricated cases of corruption,” he added.

He pointed out that Bangladesh, Vietnam, Ghana and even Myanmar were out-performing Pakistan in terms of employment ratio. “Instead of creating 10 million jobs, Prime Minister Imran Khan had fired thousands of employees from Radio Pakistan, PIA, Steel Mills and the Sports Board,” he added. He said Imran had even been heartless enough to lay off workers during the lockdown caused by the coronavirus. He said the government employees continued to protest for their rights in Islamabad and that instead of listening to their legitimate concerns, police thrashed and threw them in jail. He said the government employees in Balochistan were fired for the crime of speaking up for their rights and that this was unpardonable.

On the other hand, the Sindh government had not only increased the salaries of government employees but they were given added incentives during lockdown, he added. He also reminded the selected federal government of the announcements made after its formation in 2018. He said the PTI had promised to spend Rs18 billion in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with the aim of creating 98,000 jobs but that promise has not been fulfilled. “Other PTI pledges to provide 300,000 jobs with the establishment of Economic Zones in Punjab and 16,000 with the construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam have not been fulfilled till date,” he further added. Likewise, he said promises of creating 65,000 jobs under the Green Negehban project and 100,000 under the ML-1 project also haven’t seen the light of the day. He said the Punjab Employment Scheme was also launched at a cost of Rs9.5 billion but the youth of Lahore and Multan are still roaming with degrees. He said shuffling ministers won’t solve country’s problems and the only way out was that Imran Khan goes home.