Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Asad Umar said Thursday that the government would not impose complete lockdown during the 4th wave of Coronavirus pandemic, which he feared would start in current month of July. He said that during the past waves of coronavirus, the government’s strategy to handle the pandemic and overcome its after-effects had been very successful and the country was placed among the best three performing countries by the Economist’s Normalcy Index for handling it.
Addressing an oath taking ceremony of newly appointed members of National Youth Council (NYC), the minister urged the people to keep on following the standard operating procedure (SoPs) and vaccinate themselves to cope with 4th wave in an effective manner.
The minister, however, added that in case the ratio of positive cases goes up, the government would opt for smart lockdown as was done during the past phase.
The minister said that National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), through a letter informed the Kashmir Election Commission about violation of coronavirus SOPs during ongoing election campaigns.
Meanwhile, Asad Umar appreciated the effort of Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Youth Affairs, Usman Dar and congratulated the newly elected members of NYC.
The minister said that it was very important to know the issues of youth from them, arguing that one can only understand problems of people by consulting those who face them and then come with proper solutions.
The minister expressed satisfaction the NYC has representation from all federating units and without any gender discrimination.
He said that lot of work had been done in providing skills to youth, however highlighted the importance of engaging the youth to tap their potential.
