ISLAMABAD: National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaiser on Thursday sought a detailed report on the present status of the coronavirus pandemic from all provinces along with a follow-up on the recommendations of the parliamentary committee.
While chairing second in-camera meeting of the parliamentary committee, the NA speaker also invited the representatives of provinces in the next meeting for taking their input on the fight against the pandemic and to learn about the efforts being made at their end.
The opposition members raised number of questions in the committee pertaining to the non-availability of ventilators, testing kits and other equipment required for coronavirus disease and utilisation of funds received for said disease by the government.
The members asked about the functions of the committee and what role and procedure would be adopted by the government for distributions of food and medical items at union council (UC) level. They asked whether elected representatives would be included in the distribution of items related to the said disease or be given representation in the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the National Health Services Regulation and Coordination. They also asked whether non-deserving persons would be deleted from the present data being utilised for distribution of food and other items and whether the government is adopting China’s model to tackle the pandemic. They further asked whether funds would be allocated for research related to the said disease and whether province-wise breakup would be provided about the activities related to the pandemic to the committee.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told the committee that main objective of the committee is to collect input from political leaders and to send them to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) for implementation and National Coordination Committee (NCC) for further input. He added that the decisions and the role of the parliamentary committee would be oversight of the government’s actions against the COVID-19 pandemic.
He further said that food items would be distributed to 12 million people included in the previous data and four million people who were recently added to the data, and prescribed procedure is being finalised for distribution of protective gear and test kits as well and all data will be available online.
Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed told the meeting that the data of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) has parliamentarians of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as its beneficiaries.
He said that tests of coronavirus patients should be increased and the shortage of ventilators in the country must addressed on urgent basis.
Minister for Industries Hamad Azhar told the meeting that SOPs for distribution of food items have been provided to the Punjab government and NGOs. He said that the old procedure for distribution at district levels was not good, therefore, a uniform policy had been made with the consultation of provinces for opening of industries and shops.
The next meeting of the committee will be held on April 20.
