Tag: Punjab government

  • Punjab unable to locate 1,012 suspected COVID-19 patients in Lahore, Sialkot and Multan

    The Punjab government is trying to trace 1,012 suspected carriers of the deadly COVID-19 in various areas of the province, a private media outlet has reported.

    Quoting officials, the report said these suspected carriers, who are scattered mainly in Lahore, Sialkot and Multan, have been included in the final tally of the confirmed cases until they test negative for the virus. Of these 1,012 suspected carriers, 691 are in Lahore, 87 in Sialkot and 72 in Multan.

    The report also quoted Punjab Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department Deputy Secretary Mudasir Ahmed as saying that the suspected patients are contacts of confirmed coronavirus patients. The official said that they are gathering their phone numbers and addresses of these suspected patients and there is a “big and successful mechanism” in place for contract-tracing in the province.

    Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Director Operations Nisar Ahmed told the news outlet that they already know where all the positive cases are, so the people they came into contact with must also be carriers of the virus. He added that they were currently trying to trace these suspected carriers.

    Punjab has over 6,200 confirmed cases of the deadly virus, the highest in the country.

  • Resting the food panic amid COVID-19

    Resting the food panic amid COVID-19

    The global coronavirus pandemic has resulted in either a partial or full closure of most industries, wreaking havoc on the country’s economy. Though food scarcity is not a problem yet, during Ramzan, the closures can spell misery for people despite the government’s assurance of consistent supply. In order to simmer down the current food panic and hoarding of goods, it is to be ensured that the production and availability of essential goods are not halted by the arrival of COVID-19 in Pakistan.

    There are two sources of concern in this situation.

    First, despite growth in livestock, which contributes to almost 2/3 of the agricultural output in Pakistan and accelerated slightly to 4.0% in fiscal year (FY) 2019; agricultural production as a whole expanded by only 0.8%. Second, with COVID-19 escalating, Pakistan has recently suspended its trade and closed its borders, leaving many distressed and worrying about the shortage of essential Iftar items.

    In order to address the first concern, it is imperative to note that an overall decline in all sectors was already being witnessed before COVID-19. The slowdown in the agriculture industry was exacerbated by weaker demand and higher costs until the disease arrived. As for the shortage of essentials food items, Punjab alone is a mass producer of many food essentials that will be easily available during Ramzan. An analysis by the Urban Unit states the availability of most essential items from April to June 2020:

    • Tomatoes: Punjab’s production was recorded 1,38,397 tons during 2018-19
    • Potatoes: Punjab has 96.94% share in the total domestic production of potato and the total arrival in local wholesale markets was recorded at 510 to 515 trucks/day on an average
    • Garlic: Domestic production was recorded at 72,598 tons in 2018/2019.
    • Chilies: Production of chilies in Punjab is 11,698 tons
    • Onions: 20% in total domestic production
    • In addition to these, all forms of meat and dairy will be available as 3.7 million litres of milk are supplied per day and the daily supply of beef and mutton is 518,861 tonnes and 130,000 tonnes per day, respectively.

    Under essential items, rice is the only commodity that is expected to suffer a blow by the pandemic, but it is harvested in September. All vegetables and fruits such as capsicum, cabbage, cauliflower, bittergourd, cucumber, turnip, guava, melons and strawberries will be available in an abundant amount.

    While no serious panic has been witnessed in consumer behavior in Pakistan unlike in Europe or the United States (US), the government must exercise extreme vigilance on supply-demand trends during Ramzan. There should be no hoarding, and a robust price control mechanism must be put in place at the grass-root level by respective provincial and district administrations.

    For example, the Food Department of the Punjab government has taken effective and strict measures and warned of a crackdown on unnecessary stock holdings.

    So far, collective efforts by the Food Department along with the Deputy Commissioner’s Office and the Industries Department have led to the collection of fines worth Rs2,883.71 million from accumulators of food items, out of which Rs882.03 million was collected within just 40 days i.e. from March 1 to April 9.

    In an attempt to reduce the current wheat prices, the department is further identifying and disqualifying ghost mills from the official quota and borders are also being sealed, barring wheat transportation outside the province and ensuring food security.

  • Punjab lab declares 60-year-old man as pregnant

    A laboratory in Khanewal has declared that a 60-year-old man, identified as Allah Ditta, was pregnant.

    According to the details, the lab issued a report stating that the man’s urine test had confirmed his pregnancy.

    Following the news, Khanewal’s district commissioner sealed the lab and arrested its owner, Amin.

    The blood transfusion lab was located across from Khanewal DHQ Hospital and was being operated for the past two years. According to the police, Amin previously worked as a technician at the hospital’s blood laboratory.

    The health department, after an investigation, confirmed that the lab was being run illegally and had not been issued a license.

    A case has been registered and Amin has been handed over to the police.

    Further probe is underway.

  • Mian Mansha donates protective gear for medical staff worth Rs10 million

    Mian Mansha donates protective gear for medical staff worth Rs10 million

    Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid has received protective gear for coronavirus frontline workers, including doctors, nurses and paramedical staff, worth Rs10 million from MCB Bank Limited Chairman Mian Muhammad Mansha.

    According to the health minister, the donation comprises N95 masks, protective gear as well as gloves, goggles and shoes. The minister expressed gratitude to Mian Mansha for the donation for the frontline workers currently serving in dedicated hospitals amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “The philanthropists and organisations working to support the government in its battle against the coronavirus pandemic deserve appreciation from the government. In these testing times, we can win this battle by collective efforts. The MCB has displayed a good example of corporate social responsibility and I pray that the Almighty accepts this act of kindness and generosity,” Dr Yasmin said.

    Meanwhile, on the special instructions of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the Sindh government distributed protective gear and kits to the hospitals of south Punjab.

    The contributions come as doctors and other medical staffers continue to protest against the unavailability of proper safety equipment at hospitals in major parts of the country and doctors contracting the virus.

    The number of coronavirus infections in Pakistan, by the time this report was filed, stood at 8,648 with 181 fatalities.

  • ‘Disgruntled’ Aleem Khan to be re-inducted to Punjab cabinet days after ‘contacting PML-N’

    ‘Disgruntled’ Aleem Khan to be re-inducted to Punjab cabinet days after ‘contacting PML-N’

    After a break lasting over a year, senior member of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and former Punjab minister Aleem Khan, who according to reports was “disgruntled” ever since a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) investigation was launched into his assets, is making his way back to the provincial cabinet, coincidentally days after he contacted the rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

    As per the details, the development comes after a meeting between Aleem and Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Sardar Usman Buzdar on the behest of Prime Minister Imran Khan, which had followed a telephonic conversation between the “disgruntled” PTI leader and PML-N Punjab President Rana Sanaullah to  discuss the fast-changing political scenario, especially in Punjab.

    Sanaullah had immediately brought the conversation to the attention of party chief Shehbaz Sharif, who had reportedly told him to wait for orders regarding befriending Aleem for any changes in the provincial house where the PTI sits on the treasury benches following a neck-and-neck with the PML-N and owing to the support of Chaudhrys of Gujrat’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML) as well as independent lawmakers.

    Sources had last week informed The Current that the PML-N leadership would assess all political options but was likely to keep a safe distance from “segments of PTI allegedly involved in the wheat or sugar crises” and who had allegedly made billions through government subsidies and subsequent price hike.

    When contacted, PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah had confirmed having a detailed telephonic conversation with Aleem and that the two discussed the current political situation in the country. To a question, he had said it was too early to say if the PML-N and the disgruntled PTI group led by Aleem would put in any efforts to bring in-house changes in Punjab because his party had a principled stance in that respect.

    “First we want electoral reforms and then we seek fresh general elections but there can be an interim arrangement till the completion of these goals,” Sanaullah had said, adding that if someone said that Aleem had the support of only 20 to 25 PTI lawmakers in the Punjab Assembly, they would be underestimating him.

    “I personally know his real strength among the ranks of the PTI.”

    The little telephonic conversation between the PML-N and disgruntled PTI leader had followed a meeting between PML-N’s Khawaja brothers and Punjab Assembly speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi — an important ally of the PTI government in Punjab.

    With reports claiming that the fate of PTI’s Buzdar administration in Punjab was hanging in balance, it has been learnt that Aleem would soon be re-inducted to the provincial cabinet.

    “It was quite obviously an attempt to keep Aleem and friends from joining hands with the PML-N for any changes in the Punjab Assembly,” sources said and added the PML-N, however, seemed confident about the bond it was forging with the PML to turn tables on the ruling party.

    While Aleem has neither confirmed nor denied claims regarding his re-induction to the cabinet, The Current has learnt that he will be handed back his previous position of senior minister or “de facto provincial chief executive” along with the reins of the Local Government Department.

    He is also likely to be given the control of the Punjab Food Department and an additional charge of the Planning and Development (P&D) Department, sources said and added that Aleem will be administered oath within a day or two.

  • Coronavirus: Lahore jail’s ‘mysterious’ patient zero who infected 58 prisoners in 20 days

    Coronavirus: Lahore jail’s ‘mysterious’ patient zero who infected 58 prisoners in 20 days

    Lahore’s Camp Jail has been vacated and turned into a 100-bed quarantine centre after at least 58 prisoners tested positive for the new coronavirus — COVID-19. But who is the mysterious patient zero and how did he contract the virus before passing it on to such a large number of inmates in just 20 days?

    According to The News, a total of 490 prisoners were exposed to patient zero who developed COVID-19 symptoms back on March 18. He complained of fever to the jail authorities and upon testing, his test result for the virus came positive. Following this, three other prisoners who were close to him also tested positive. The jail authorities then asked for tests of other inmates locked up in the same barracks as the patients, and initially, 19 other’s coronavirus tests also came positive.

    As the matter was looked into, the prison authorities realised that 490 inmates imprisoned in nearby barracks were also exposed to the mysterious patient zero. With it taking them 20 days to decide on vacating the jail, 58 of the said inmates tested positive for COVID-19.

    But who is patient zero?

    According to authorities, patient zero is a Pakistani-Italian who came to Pakistan in December 2019. On March 8, 2018, he was going back to Italy when the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) found on him six kilograms of heroin. With the drugs being seized, he was arrested and sent to Camp Jail.

    Authorities claim that his family is a frequent traveler and that was how he contracted the virus. “His family had also recently traveled from Italy and patient zero developed COVID-19 symptoms 10 days after his imprisonment,” they said.

    Meanwhile, Punjab government spokesperson Musarrat Cheema confirmed that Camp Jail had been vacated and converted into a 100-bed quarantine center.

    “There are more than 2,700 prisoners in Camp Jail. The Punjab government has converted the jail into a 100-bed quarantine centre for prisoners. A medical team of Services Hospital has also been assigned to look after this quarantine centre,” she informed, adding that a total of 490 prisoners were exposed to the patient at the jail.

    “Initially, the tests of 19 prisoners came positive and they were quarantined there. But as of April 9, the number of COVID-19 positive prisoners has reached 58. The remaining prisoners are being shifted to other cities, including Lodhran and Hafizabad. So far, 1,100 prisoners have been shifted to Hafizabad, 258 have been sent to Lodhran whereas the rest of the prisoners are being shifted to other jails across the province. There will be no prisoner in Camp Jail from today [Friday] onwards.”

  • ‘Disgruntled’ Aleem Khan to befriend PML-N, turn tables on PTI in Punjab?

    ‘Disgruntled’ Aleem Khan to befriend PML-N, turn tables on PTI in Punjab?

    Senior member of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and former Punjab minister Aleem Khan, who according to reports is “disgruntled” ever since a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) investigation was launched into his assets, has telephoned rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Punjab President Rana Sanaullah to discuss with him the fast-changing political scenario, especially in Punjab, The News reported.

    According to reports, Aleem contacted the PML-N stalwart and told him that he wanted to discuss “some important issues in the context of the fast-changing political scenario”, which Sanaullah immediately brought to the attention of party chief Shehbaz Sharif.

    “PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah immediately informed PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif about this political development. He [Sanaullah] was told to wait until he gives him directives in this regard,” the report quoted sources as saying.

    They said the PML-N leadership would assess all political options but is likely to keep a safe distance from “segments of PTI allegedly involved in the wheat or sugar crises” and are being accused of making billions through government subsidies and price hike, the report stated.

    “Aleem Khan had also approached Rana Sanaullah in the past when he was practically sidelined due to his growing differences with Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan over the state of affairs in Punjab,” sources told The News and added that when Sanaullah was arrested in the controversial narcotics case, the PTI member had back then also sent him text messages, saying he hoped that the PML-N leader comes out clean.

    When contacted, PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah confirmed that he had a detailed telephonic conversation with Aleem and the two discussed the current political situation in the country.

    To a question, he said it was too early to say if the PML-N and the disgruntled PTI group led by Aleem would put in any efforts to bring in-house changes in Punjab because his party had a principled stance in this respect.

    “First we want electoral reforms and then we seek fresh general elections but there can be an interim arrangement till the completion of these goals,” Sanaullah said, adding that if someone said that Aleem had the support of only 20 to 25 PTI lawmakers in the Punjab Assembly, they would be underestimating him. “I personally know his real strength among the ranks of the PTI.”

    To another question, he said some PTI members from Punjab had contacted the PML-N in the past as well but the leadership had decided that it would be useless to participate in power politics without having any people-oriented political agenda.

  • ‘Punjab exported wheat on Asad Umar’s orders’

    ‘Punjab exported wheat on Asad Umar’s orders’

    In his first media encounter after resigning as Punjab food minister, Samiullah Chaudhry has claimed that Asad Umar, as then federal finance minister, had asked for exporting wheat despite his opposition, Dawn reported.

    Threatening to expose the forces involved in the wheat flour report conspiracy, he said the inquiry committee never wished to summon him for investigation.

    “Asad Umar as federal finance minister had chaired a high-level meeting in Islamabad early last year and asked for exporting some of the wheat stocks, 7.2 million tonnes in Punjab at that time. I opposed the move because the government would have to offer subsidy for the export [for the grain being costlier than the world prices],” he said while speaking to a private media outlet.

    “I said the country could not afford to give the subsidy and suggested rather selling out the same stocks in the local market [for the benefit of the local population],” he said, adding that flour mills in Islamabad and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) still enjoyed subsidised wheat at the cost of Punjab’s exchequer.

    The former minister maintained that he had also asked the inquiry committee to also include this fact in its report.

    In his reaction to the allegation, now Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar said it was not his personal but a collective decision taken on the condition that prices won’t be allowed to be increased in the local market. He said the decision was first taken by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) and then endorsed by the federal cabinet.

  • Punjab parks to be converted into field hospitals

    The Punjab government has decided to set up field hospitals at various parks across the province to treat patients who have been infected with COVID-19.

    Asif Mehmood, the chairperson of the Parks and Horticulture Authority, said that these field hospitals will serve as quarantine centres when the burden on hospitals increases.

    He said he has issued directions to administrations of different cities to follow these orders.

    In Rawalpindi, Hilal-e-Ahmar has set up a 200-bed field hospital in a park.

    “These hospital will be used for treating the coronavirus,” Hilal-e-Ahmar chairperson Abrarul Haq said, adding that the hospital has ICU beds and ventilators.

    The United States of America has also done this when its cases were increased and almost 1,000 New Yorkers were killed by the virus.

    Emergency field hospitals were readied in New York’s Central Park and at the home of the US Open tennis tournament when the US death toll from the coronavirus surpassed that of China.

  • Buzdar govt tells schools to slash fees by 20pc, pay staff on time, not fire anyone

    Buzdar govt tells schools to slash fees by 20pc, pay staff on time, not fire anyone

    Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar has announced his administration’s decision to slash school fees across the province by 20% during the ongoing holidays to safeguard the masses from the global coronavirus pandemic that also continues to take a toll on Pakistan, especially Punjab.

    “All schools have also been instructed to collect fees on a monthly basis,” he tweeted adding that the schools had also been directed to pay the salary of all its staff and teachers on time, and barred from firing anyone.

    The provincial chief executive has reportedly made the announcement as part of government measures to shield the public from the economic impact of the lockdown enforced to contain the spread of COVID-19.

    Earlier in the day, it was reported that the Punjab government was extending the existing restrictions in the province till April 14.

    “Public is requested to follow the guidelines issued by the government and ensure that they don’t leave home unless necessary,” a government spokesperson said.

    https://twitter.com/MusarratCheema/status/1247038746937171968

    According to a notification, the lockdown is being extended due to a rise in the number of cases in the province, which is alarming and highly dangerous for the health of the people.

    “It is mandatory to take all pragmatic and possible measures to contain and counter the further spread of coronavirus on war footings,” the notification said.

    It further said that there were sufficient grounds to proceed under section 144 of “The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898”, as an immediate preventive and speedy remedy to ensure public safety, conserve lives and maintain peace and tranquillity in the province.

    Punjab has reported the highest number of confirmed cases in the country, 1,493 and 15 deaths.

    On March 23, CM Buzdar had announced a 14-day partial lockdown in the province to curb the spread of the virus.

    Following the announcement, parks and public places were ordered to remain close and pillion riding in the province was banned.