LAHORE                    -               Accusing the government of concealing patient load covid-19, the joint opposition has expressed concerns at what it says delayed official response to the complicating situation in the wake of the outbreak.

Multi-Party Conference (MPC) hosted by the PPP through video link on Wednesday, alleged that the government was concealing the figures about corona infected people as it had barred the laboratories conducting the tests from making public their data.

Attended by Rana Sana (PML-N), Kamil Agha (PML-Q), Farooq Tariq (Left Front), Javed Kasuri (JI), Manzur Khan (National Party), Dr Ateeq (JUI-F), Ammar Rashid (AWP) and Jawad Ahmed (Barabary Party) and Qamar Zaman Kaira, Chaudhry Manzoor and Hassan Murtaza (PPP), the meeting  decided that the MPCs would be regularly held at the N League would host the next moot.

The participants through a joint declaration also expressed their concern at low ratio of tests, while the tests so far conducted are showing a rising trend of the infection.

The participants said that they were astounded to know that the government had not yet devised a formal mechanism for delivery of relief goods to the deserving while the lockdown had entered the ninth consecutive day.

Doubting the official data, they demanded the government to form a parliamentary committee for daily briefing on the developing situation and urged the Punjab Assembly speaker to take the step if the treasury failed to do so.

Regretting that the official response to the pandemic was slow as if there existed no government, the meeting suggested that the authorities should restore the local bodies or at least utilize the official manpower like lady health visitors and polio workers for delivering relief goods to the deserving families.

They said that if the workers could administer polio drops to the entire country within three days, they could easily and swiftly distribute relief goods to those in dire need now.

The MPC demanded increasing the relief amount per family from the present Rs4000 to at least Rs20000 per month and urged the federal government to transfer the promised relief funds to the provinces at the earliest.

The participants wondered that despite the passage of 75 days since the outbreak of the pandemic the government could not yet provide personal protective equipment to doctors and paramedical fighting on the front line against Covid-19. They demanded supply of 100,000 PPEs immediately to the medical staff.

They also demanded cut in the oil prices in commensurate with the fall in prices in the world market, waiving off payment of utility bills by those whose electricity bill is up to Rs5000 per month, gas Rs2000 and water Rs1000 per month.

They also sought subsidies for agriculture sector and reducing bank loans interest rate down to 7% to kickstart economic activities in the wake of the recession because of the lockdowns worldwide.

Blaming Prime Minister Imran Khan for what the MPC said dividing the nation through setting up Tiger Force for delivery of relief goods, the participants demanded that Mr Khan donate at least 10 per cent of his assets for the corona relief fund to set an example for others.

They also called for removal of reservations of the Tableeghi Jamaat regarding suspending their preaching activities for the time being and also appealed to the leaders of the outfit to cooperate with the authorities in the larger interest of the people.