Tiger Force to be activated in Sindh on Thursday: Usman Dar      

• Usman Dar said his office had remained in constant contact with the Sindh government in the last two weeks for launching the CRTF in the province, which had now formally declined the request.
• He said the data of registered CRTF members would be shared with the office of Sindh governor shortly to formally launch the force in the province.

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Muhammad Usman Dar Wednesday said the Corona Relief Tiger Force (CRTF) would be activated in Sindh on Thursday to assist the civil administration in carrying out relief activities amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

“It has been decided in principle that 154,000 volunteers of the Tiger Force from Sindh will start performing duties in the province under the leadership of Sindh Governor Imran Ismail,” the SAPM told media persons here.

Usman Dar said his office had remained in constant contact with the Sindh government in the last two weeks for launching the CRTF in the province, which had now formally declined the request.

On the one hand, he said Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari called for national unity on the floor of National Assembly and on the other his Sindh government refused to avail the services of CRTF volunteers, who had passion to serve the people without any monetary benefit.

“From the day one, the Sindh government has been politicizing the ‘Tiger Force’ because this is an initiative of Prime Minister Imran Khan,” he added.

He said the data of registered CRTF members would be shared with the office of Sindh governor shortly to formally launch the force in the province.

The SAPM said he was confident that the Sindh governor and his team would extend full support to the volunteers of Tiger Force in assisting the civil administration to mitigate the socio-economic woes of the contagion on the society.

After the Eid-ul-Fitr, the Tiger Force volunteers would be seen in every street of Sindh, he remarked.

Usman Dar dispelled the impression that the role of Tiger Force had been minimized due to softening of the coronavirus lockdown across the country.

He said the CRTF volunteers had been doing remarkable jobs across the country.

They performed multiple duties in the field that included implementation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) in mosques, data collection of labourers for Ehsaas programme, quarantine centers management, indication of profiteering and hoarding, and others.

Usman Dar said the CRTF volunteers would also be deputed at mosques for ensuring social distance among the people at the time of Eid-ul-Fitr prayer.

He said one million people had signed up for the CRTF, which showed the spirit of volunteerism of our nation.

“This is an additional human support to the system.”

The SAPM urged the CRTF volunteers to facilitate the district administrations in implementing the coronavirus related the SOPs.