World leaders should devise ways to protect labourers from impacts of Covid-19: PM

(Karachi) Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the world leaders should devise ways to protect the vulnerable segments of the society, especially the labourers from the negative impacts of coronavirus.

Addressing an online International Labour IOrganization (ILO) Global Summit on COVID-19 on Wednesday, he said many developing countries, including Pakistan depend upon remittances sent by the overseas workers. He said, "There is need the host countries become more sympathetic to these labourers."

Imran maintained that worst hit by lockdown is the labour community. "The future is very uncertain as we do not know how long the economy will take to recover from the impacts of the pandemic," the PM stated.

He said, "We are praying that vaccines come out as a cure to the virus but in the meantime we need to share our experiences and exchange ideas to protect our vulnerable groups."

Speaking about the impacts of lockdown in Pakistan, the prime minister said it rendered country's daily wage workers and laborers unemployed. "We came up with the smart lockdown idea under which public gatherings were stopped but we allowed other activities like reopening of construction and agriculture sectors."

Referring to Ehsaas Cash programme, the prime minister said the government provided cash assistance to the laborers under Ehsaas Program after completing their registration process. "It was the first time in Pakistan's history that such a huge money was disbursed in such a short space of time."