SWABI                  -               The lockdown imposed in the district and other parts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the wake of outbreak of Covid-19, dozens of newspaper hawkers have been rendered jobless. The Swabi District Newspaper Vendors’ Union, in a joint statement issued here on Sunday, said that due to the pandemic of coronavirus, businesses had been badly hit and people had lost their jobs, adding the newspaper vendors were no exception. “The newspapers hawkers are starving,” it added. “If this situation continues the hawkers will face more hardships. All newspapers’ owners and the government should announce special financial aid packages for each newspaper vendor to save them from the menace of unemployment and hunger,” the statement said. The aid should be delivered to the homes of those associated with the newspaper industry as soon as possible, the statement said, adding that the government should not limit itself to mere announcements, but also make arrangements to provide financial assistance to the unemployed on a daily basis.

They appealed to the government, the owners of newspapers and all the editors to come forward and rescue them in these testing times.