ISLAMABAD - Pakistan People’s Party Chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari yesterday accused the government of engineering inflation in the country.
The PPP chief claimed that Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf-led government was busy “enriching Prime Minister Imran Khan’s cronies in the cartels and mafias| through engineered inflation at the cost of lives and wellbeing of millions of Pakistanis.
In a statement, the PPP Chairman said that living for low-income families had become unbearable and that it was criminal to allow landlords to increase rents at a time “when so many of our fellow countrymen were dealing with skyrocketing inflation and unemployment in the country.”
He added that the government had abdicated its responsibility by not freezing rents while a majority of the country was reeling from the combined pressures of inflation and COVID-19.
He said that Imran Khan’s enmity towards the people has reached an all-time high and that the common man has nowhere to turn to for relief. “Food items alone have seen at least a 15.9 percent price increase in the country. In Imran Khan’s “Madina Ki Riasat,” fruit prices have seen an increase of 25.2% during the holy month of Ramazan depriving the average citizen of even the simple pleasures of something as ubiquitous as fruit chaat in this month,” he added.
Bilawal said that the sharp rise in tomato prices by up to 67 percent and Prime Minister’s complete apathy to the plight of the people was proof that Imran Khan was the ringleader of this inflation mafia and his crony capitalist friends were minting money by raising prices.
He said that on the other hand the PPP’s Sindh government had issued Nazir Mazdoor Card as a support system for some of the most effected segments of society to ease their burden during the days of runaway inflation in the country.
In the first phase, the Benazir Mazdoor Card has been issued to 600,000 registered industrial workers in Sindh. “It will make life easier for millions of families in the days to come as next phases will see these benefits extended to unregistered industrial workers, agricultural workers, domestic labour, and we hope to eventually cover all labourers in Sindh. Medical grants, educational grants for labourers children, marriage grants, scholarships, and other benefits will also be provided through the Benazir Mazdoor Card, easing the burden on blue collar workers throughout the province during these immensely trying financial times,” he pointed out.
Bilawal termed the Benazir Mazdoor Card an important milestone and added that any worker to suffer disablity in a workplace accident would be given a gratuity and lifelong pension, and God forbid in case of a worker’s death those benefits would transfer to their spouse. “In case of serious illness, the workers registered with Sindh Employees Social Security Institution will be treated in private hospitals,” he added.
He announced that when PPP comes to power in the Federation this program would be rolled out to the rest of the country so labourers across Pakistan would be registered for the Benazir Mazdoor Card and benefit from this revolutionary program. “PPP is the Party of the working class of the country. We were, are, and always will be fighting for the interests of the people and the labour class. No worker will be left unsupported and alone,” he said.
Bilawal also reiterated his commitment to ending the anti-people measures adopted by this government and said that when elected to federal government he would ensure that the people of Pakistan weren’t left at the hands of the capitalist mafias and cartels that bleed the people dry while they get away by ingratiating themselves to Imran Khan.