LAHORE - President Dr Arif Alvi commended the CM Punjab for his efforts in fighting coronavirus. He, however, stressed the need for early supply of ration and financial support to the needy and deserving families, whose wages/sources of income had been affected severely due to prevailing situation. He hoped that the way the country’s institutions were performing, it would lay the foundation for the New Pakistan.

Earlier, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar apprised the president that the provincial government had responded very quickly to corona outbreak and released Rs 236 million to the Health Department on January 13, 2020 and another grant of Rs 14 million recently, while the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) also released a total of Rs 2.3 billion to all divisional and district administrations to fight the corona pandemic, besides establishing quarantine centres, and corona telemedicine helpline centres to facilitate and guide people about anti-corona measures at their homes.

Similarly, the Punjab government also gave approval for recruitment of 10,000 doctors so as to effectively cope with dreaded virus, he said and mentioned that monetary support for each deserving family had been enhanced from Rs 4,000 to Rs 12,000, while the number of beneficiaries had also been increased from 1.7 million to 2.5 million families under the CM Insaf Imdad Programme and Ehsas Programme of the federal government.