ISLAMABAD: Prime minister, Imran Khan, on Wednesday announced historic relief for the masses.
Announcing much- trumpeted relief package, the prime minister on Wednesday said the prices of petroleum products and other essentials were far less in Pakistan than other regional countries like India and Bangladesh . He quoted the prices of petrol and edibles in India and Bangladesh to make his point.
The prime minister said the government was doing every possible effort to shelter the nation from growing global price-hike . He added that the government was sharing burden of billions of rupee by reducing taxes on petroleum products to ward -off full financial burden on the masses.
The prime minister conceded that the masses were facing problem due to rise in the rates of essentials, but added that the price-hike was a global phenomenon. He warned the nation that the rates of utilities and petroleum products can go further up and upcoming winter may aggravate gas crisis. He said the government is going to provide targetted subsidy to 20 million families. He said targetted subsidy of Rs 120 billion will benefit 20 million families.
The prime minister also announced to provide technical training to one member of each family. He maintained that the government has allocated Rs 1400 billion for Youth Programme to help youth become self sufficient in earning .He also urged upon the employers to share some percentage of benefits with the workers. The prime minister said if two families ( Sharifs and Zardaris) bring half of their ill-gotton money into Pakistan, he could half the prices of the essentials.
The opposition strongly rejected historic relief and demanded the prime minister to quit his office. Pakistan People Party (PPP) chairman , Balawal Bhutto , in his reaction , said the prime minister’s package was yet another lie to the nation. Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) spokesperson, Maryam Aurangzeb, called the package as a historic fraud to the Pakistani nation and demanded of the prime minister to step down to give real relief to the masses.
