Tag Archives: @SindhCMHouse

‘Tis the Season for Sind Tourism

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(Well, not the “climatic season”!)

June 30, 2021

So once again, our AFK photography class was off to explore Sind.  Never in my life have I ventured as much into Sind as I have with this group…and it’s a pleasure to finally see the sights (and sounds) of the province I live in.

FIRST STOP … Makli Necropolis … is about 2½ hours away from Karachi on N-5 (National H’way).

               We first stopped for breakfast at Café Imran, apparently a well-known joint in Gharo.  Can’t disagree with that assessment as it was jam packed when we arrived at 8.30am. What we lost in a little waiting time we made up with a hearty and enjoyable breakfast — Sweet Lassi, Sweet Chai, Paratha, Channa & Omelette … DEFINITELY NOT for the diabetic, cardiac case or Cholestrol affectee 😊 😊 😊.

  • Diabetics “DELIGHT”

Makli is beautiful … and in summers, dreadfully, frightfully HOT.  If you go, remember to take bottles of water and keep drinking; and as my closest friend, and doctor, Shahrukh Hansotia says, a packet of ORS to replenish the evaporated salts.  Makli is apparently the largest Muslim burial ground in the world.

Visiting Makli’s tombs reminded me of similar places in Italy, Iran and other such preserved sites.  An UNESCO Heritage site, the government and UNESCO seem to be doing a decent job but more needs to be done, especially with regards to cleanliness. 

SECOND STOP … From here we went onward to visit the Tomb of Sultan Jam Nizamuddin and the Shrine of Jam & Nuri Tamachi (among other structures) … Beautiful but need preserving.  An interesting 2016 (but old) DAWN article gives a good summary of the problems being faced there- https://www.dawn.com/news/1257429 .

By then we were hot and tired … so we decided to break for lunch – we all needed cold cold drinks.  My friend was dehydrated and got himself a litre of water with ORS. 

So, for our THIRD STOP, we went to a little “BOUTIQUE” … FINE DINING so to speak … of a restaurant in Thatta city – a haven for “covid” and any other germs & diseases you can think of 😊 😊 😊.  Barring the “ambiance”, the vegetables and the freshly baked naan was … to die for (absolutely delicious)!  TIP I LEARNT THERE- don’t order anything other than vegetables and daal – you won’t exactly know what [substitute for] “meat” or “chicken” has been put 😱.

  • Certainly NOT for the faint hearted!

FOURTH STOP … Freshly energized with food, we went to see the famous Shahjahan Mosque in Thatta – absolutely beautiful.  Needing to kill 1 hour, most of us actually snoozed on the cool flooring for a while. 

The Shahjahan Mosque is beautiful.  More than the courtyard, it’s the two side corridors and the ceiling of the main prayer hall (as you enter) which is fabulous.  Down the right corridor, suddenly there is a very unusual, crooked doorway.  There must be a reason for this but we could not find out the reason.

We ENDED THE DAY by seeing the Chawkandi Tombs on the return.  These were even better preserved than some of the Makli ones, inspite of being older than Makli. 

Two interesting nuggets we learnt at Chawkandi-

  1. Those graves with a turban implied a male was buried there; and
  2. There is one grave (apparently the only grave in the Muslim world) with a horse symbol on it and it’s located at Chawkandi.

I made three new friends, Muneeb, Gulzeb and Baboo 70 (the latter I think believes he’s a villain from some Pakistan or Indian action movie 😊).  I told them I’ll somehow try to get their photos over to them at Chawkandi one way or the other.

With the permission of the author/videographer (and member of our Makli group), Abdul Qayoom (Pakistan Scape), I am posting his two YouTube links on our photography tour –               

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wsG-n_hr6k & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsL1Y3pItZI  

The N-5 is prettier that taking the Super H’way.  There’s so much to see of Sindh, the barrenness, the greenery and the main canal supplying water to Karachi, which runs parallel to N-5.

  • Main water supply for Karachi runs parallel to N-5

‘Tis the season for Sindh … and I mean season for “Sind exploration” this year! 

So much to see … and plenty of time to do it in 😊 … next stop, hopefully, MITHI !

ANOTHER Hidden GEM … This Time SINDH!

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April 27, 2021

So off we went, the five of us, on Friday to Ranikot & Mohenjo-Daro.  3½ hours from Karachi, life completely changed once we got onto the N55 H’way.

For me, it was a photo & astro-photography trip; for my friends, already pros, had photography work with the Sindh Culture department.  Naturally, we couldn’t have chosen a “better” time to go … 40⁰+C in the day (but it dropped to 18⁰ at night and early morning).

We arrived Ranikot Fort around 5.30pm and promptly started our photography sessions of Merikot Fort. Within Ranikot Fort, are additional defensive walls and another Fort- Merikot Fort. This was apparently the palace of the royal family.

History of Ranikot is available at https://antiquities.sindhculture.gov.pk/index.php/antiquities-sites/fort/rani-kot-fort-jamshoro & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranikot_Fort and I’m not going into the history at this point; suffice to say, it was a very different experience from what I envisaged.  The Fort itself is built like the Great Wall of China- connected over mountain tops, spanning around 30 km, with guard towers, fortified walls (see below) and even another fort on the mountain top.  This is the OUTER and main defense. 

After a delicious meal prepared by the restaurant owner, Abdul Qader Gabol, we started light photography.  We couldn’t do any astrophotography as it was very dusty and the the Milky Way wasn’t visible the whole night. 

Light photography was a new experience for me!

I slept at 1.30am late night and got woken at 5.45am to see the sunrise.  What a temperature difference- it was so cool and pleasant on waking up.

Next day, after a simple yet delicious breakfast, we set off to see one of the four entry gates of Ranikot.  Absolutely amazing.

I climbed up 300 steps (apprx. 300 feet) and yet there were about another 200 steps to go, at which time I decided to call it quits and walk down again.  Looking at the Wall from where I stood, reminded me of Mulan (movie)- it felt so real.

Not only will I return, with my family, but we’ll walk to the top of the entry wall!  Let it not be said the Fort conquered our will & stamina 😊!

From there we made our way another 3½ hours to Mohenjo-Daro on the N55.

Walking around, albeit in the heat, was still an experience – this site reminded me of our visit to Pompei in the ‘1970s!

After another delicious dinner, we packed off to bed at 9pm! … so as to awake at 3am for the astrophotography.

This was an absolutely new experience for me.  Using the controls of the camera to capture the stars and the Milky Way and no flash or astronomy equipment.

The purpose of writing this is to show just one of many tourist sites Pakistan has to offer, in this case in the province of Sind.  Over these 3 days, I came to identify multi-tourist activities for a variety of interests/enthusiasts –

  • Overlanding
  • Off roading
  • Adventure
  • Historical/cultural interests
  • Hiking/mountain climbing
  • Photography & Astrophotography
  • Wildlife photography (there are wolves here!)
  • Flora & fauna
  • …or just plain bumming (chillin’) away!

What’s the problem you ask?  The problem is these “gems”, like so so many others, is not promoted to – forget foreigners – our domestic tourists.  It’s taken 53 years for me to get here- how many others are missing this experience!?

One amateur/novice photographer (me) in a lot of four other professionals … a great learning experience!

Next Stop – MITHI !

Karachi … BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD!

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September 8, 2020

In my recent blog (https://dinshawavari.com/2020/08/29/water-water-everywhere-but-not-a-drop-to-drink-the-rime-of-the-ancient-mariner-by-samuel-taylor-coleridge/), I was only concentrating on recycling rainwater for Karachi.  However, the inadequacy of the Karachi’s infrastructure to deal with … RAIN … has created havoc to our City.

Recently I heard Arif Hasan, planner, architect & activist (http://arifhasan.org/about-arif-hasan), on a Samaa News interview (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCb6OIWWsoo).  The interview is an eyeopener and very insightful as Mr Hasan traces the roots of the problem, the history of our formal drainage systems, Karachi’s unchecked sprawl from the 1950s and especially 1970s leading to the drainage & sewer breakdown, we face currently.  In identifying these problems, Mr Hasan implicitly provides the solutions too.

There are two courses of action required –

  • I have already addressed rain water harvesting & recycling;
  • Alongside this, the city’s RAIN WATER and SEWAGE DRAINAGE systems have to be urgently addressed on a professional basis.

Basically, Karachi needs to “get back to the drawing board” by using independent, non-partisan town planners and architects (like Arif Hasan himself).  We have ONE YEAR lead time to fix the city- or at least be able to complete some of the main areas of the City – before the next rains hit us.

There are thousands of little drains – nullahs – (some naturally formed) which should feed into 64 large Nullahs which lead into Malir & Landhi Rivers, which in turn flow into the sea. 

PROBLEM:          When even one of these nullahs are blocked or stopped, it prohibits rainwater to flow into the sea- and instead, it floods the City.  This is the root problem.

SOLUTION:         So, firstly, the Entrance & Exit points of all Nullahs should remain undisturbed from encroachments, unplanned structures and debris.

PROBLEM:          Next, when roads are being built, their drainage is also part of the scope.  However, Arif Hasan points out that when the drains are made, they don’t lead anywhere – they end where the road ends … GO FIGURE!  So, when the [so-called] drains fill up with rain – from the road itself – the overflow goes back onto the roads again … and … the “ROADS GET CONVERTED INTO NULLAHS”!

SOLUTION:         So, the second action is that road drains must connect to the established nullahs, so there’s a formal route for the water to naturally flow into the sea (more on formal drains below).

PROBLEM:          In the 1950s, Katchi Abadis (informal housing settlements) sprang up unchecked.  There was no planning for their sewage drains, so the katchi abadis drained their sewage into Karachi’s nullahs…a practice which continues to this day.  In the 1970s, when the formal housing schemes and neighborhoods were created, they continued the same practice of draining their sewage into rain water drains because no sewage drains or trunk sewers were planned … again, a practice that continues to this very day! 

SOLUTION(s):    So, thirdly, TRUNK SEWERS leading into FORMAL SEWER DRAINAGE SYSTEMS (& NOT into the rainwater drains) has to be planned & executed.

When this is done, all current formal Storm water drains must be cleaned off all the sewage sludge; all sewage outlets leading into such rain water drains removed and capped; and new storm water drains built to accommodate the City’s sprawl (it is massive task and a daunting one, at that).  Storm water drains must ONLY be used for rain water drainage.

Each of these systems has to be physically separate and independent from each other – no one system should be able to lead into another system in case of a breakdown; each of these systems has to have its own failsafe mechanisms in place; have their own access points for repairs, replacements & maintenance in place; and have their dedicated teams ready to fix and clean them.

PROBLEM:          The World Bank funded & completed a successful Sewage treatment plant in the 1990s.  However, it never started operations.  Why … because there were no trunk sewer systems designed or created to capture rainwater which would have flowed into the treatment plants; likewise, nothing was designed to capture the sewage (which instead was dumped into the rain water drains) to drain into such treatments plants either.

SOLUTION(s):    Fourth- once these new Trunk Sewers and formal Sewage system captures all types of drains (be it rainwater or sewage), they should ONLY flow into Sewage treatment plants (plants…PLURAL); and then they should flow into new nullahs connecting to Malir & Lyari rivers.

Malir & Lyari rivers themselves need to be dredged and maintained to accept this drainage.

A recycling solution also lies in utilizing waste from treatment plants (after being treated) for watering the City’s green belts instead of letting it flow into the sea.

PROBLEM:          Samaa interestingly also points out (https://www.samaa.tv/news/2020/08/karachi-rain-water-weather-flooding-monsoon-update-storage-shortage-drought/) that Karachi’s “concrete jungle” doesn’t have the capacity to absorb any of the rainwater so as to shore up valuable ground water.  “The advantage would have been that the water table would have been replenished”.

SOLUTION(s):    So, we need to create large swaths of “green areas”;

We have to breakdown this concrete jungle and rebuild public areas with gardens and trees;

Town planning has to be formalized, professionalized and held accountable;

Katchi abadis may very well have to be relocated (like the successful Lyari/Orangi resettlement project) into new, formal neighborhoods- this can be successfully & mutually negotiated by giving these resettlers title to their new properties, instead of the usurious “pagri” and rental system most of these katchi abadi dwellers have to content with currently;

Lastly, roads and current infrastructure will also have be replanned, replaced or even relocated to accommodate these new services.

So, what is the STARTING POINT of all these actions?

               A long term City & infrastructure Plan has to be created, agreed by all political stakeholders and implemented & monitored professionally.  This Plan will continuously need amendments and updating, which cannot be done without a non-partisan, political approach to addressing Karachi’s problems professionally by the Chief Minister, Government AND Opposition parties working together, instead of the politics of destruction – the destruction to the City of Karachi!

“Lockdown or Not to Lockdown – That Is The Question”

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(Further Harangues of a Layman [COVID]- 3)

(photo credit- webmd.com)

May 30, 2020

(This is a long article)

Since my last “diatribe” on this topic (https://dinshawavari.com/2020/04/19/imitation-is-the-sincerest-form-of-flattery-further-ramblings-of-a-layman-covid-2/), we have opened a lot of our lockdown sectors, retail outlets, business, etc. 

Now comes the question- has lockdown helped or not.

Personally I believe that lockdown was an important strategy at the outset of this pandemic- however, it should have been all encompassing and stricter.  Our businesses have been closed for last two months instead of 2-3 weeks – and that is due to a “hybrid” system instead of “total” lockdown.

However, dynamics have changed.  Two months without income cannot sustain any economic band of society- it’s just not possible.  Giving credit where it’s due – to the State Bank and the Federal Government for supporting companies and businesses – is important but it isn’t enough for someone to feed 4-5 mouths on a daily basis in a population of 250 Million!

(1) Part of the problem lies in partisan politics. 

Australia, with its diverse political structure and strong provincial autonomy, banded together like no other in this crisis.  Partisan politics were set aside for a country-specific policy.  Consensus-based decision making was the norm.  The PM and the coordination committee with representatives of all provinces made JOINT decisions.  This is not so in Pakistan!

(2) As long as citizens of a country do not cooperate with the government, no amount of the “stick” or “carrot” will work.  The administration can beat their head against the wall creating SOPs but if in our own heart we don’t follow them, then it’s as good as a failed policy.

Sweden’s “partial lockdown” system worked due to the Swedish people’s sense of responsibility in social distancing.  They took it upon themselves to ensure they followed the government’s policies in return for a more open society.  This is not so in Pakistan!

(3) Successful countries have followed the advice of scientists and doctors.  Government policies, politics, [maybe] some personal freedoms have been set aside to listen to, and implement, actions recommended by “virus experts”.

Here again, Australia, Korea, New Zealand, etc followed what experts in this field advised them.  It may have run contrary to their own thinking or policy but they listened to people who knew what they were talking about.  This is not so in Pakistan! 

(4) I do not support pollution or lack of hygiene & sanitation!  However, can a fair case be made that in countries like Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, while there is a high Corona Virus count, the death rate [to overall COVID cases] ratio is not as high as in the developed world?  Why?

Let’s look it like this- the pollution, smog, vehicular emissions, sewerage, slums, lack of sanitation, etc in the general populace is the “norm” unfortunately; food is prepared over open sewages; generations are born and die in slums in the center of our cities; 50% of the population drink polluted tap water directly; flies are our regular lunch & dinner dates; mosquitos thrive on our blood … whose immunity will NOT be built?  These are the living standards in Pakistan!  However, this should not be the case in Pakistan!

All these factors and more – cash economy, daily wagers, population density, public transport, education levels, etc – play their share on a macro basis in determining whether to lockdown a country or not.  We lack in so many of these areas that I do not believe Pakistan can afford to lockdown the country further. 

Smarter policing is required – political partisanship has to be shunned – geographical and economic aspects should be accounted for – and based on these aspects an all-inclusive, sustained policy be devised.

Can Pakistan please band together!?

(photo credit- sciencemag.com)

No Two States are “Cut From The Same Cloth”- (Yet More Ramblings of a Layman [COVID]-3)

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May 2, 2020

To arbitrarily attack the World Health Organization that it “flip flops” is unfair. 

As WHO puts it- “What it has done differently is it has very much relied on its relationship with its citizenry and the ability and willingness of its citizens to implement self-distancing and self-regulate” (https://nypost.com/2020/04/29/who-lauds-sweden-as-model-for-resisting-coronavirus-lockdown/).   Besides this, Sweden has issued rules for social distancing and encouraging working from home- they haven’t arbitrarily opened up their society.

While that strategy seems to work for Sweden, Australia & New Zealand’s strategy of lockdown has worked for them (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/world/australia/new-zealand-coronavirus.html).

So, WHO’s statement on Sweden’s strategy should not be taken out of context.

Practically speaking, none of us alive today have EVER faced a pandemic like this in our lifetime.  Nations, leaders, scientists are all feeling the waters, testing strategies, changing guidelines…there’s nothing wrong with that.  None of us will get it right.  We will falter and that’s where our leaders & scientists have to learn, amend strategies and move on.

Philosophically speaking, I believe we are being tested so that we are ready for the real disease yet to come!

Even the most educated of us do not follow guidelines and rules laid out by our governments, so how can we be trusted (unlike the Swedes) to follow protocols a government would lay down similar to Sweden’s? 

The concept of “Herd Immunity” (first time I ever heard of it!) is a practical one- and I truly believe that countries like Pakistan, India, Bangladesh are ahead of the game as far as this immunity is concerned due to the environment our people live in.  However, like all strategies, in my mind, it would be incorrect to practice herd immunity willy-nilly.  WHO is also learning through this pandemic and it’s a thankless task with 7 Billion eyes on them, so let’s not be too hasty in passing judgement.  A combination of face mask, social distancing, contact tracing & “smart”, geographic lockdown is the correct way to go.

Who are we not to give WHO a chance!?

Don’t Let COVID Consume Other Social Ills!

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April 29, 2020

COVID … COVID … COVID!  We will PREVAIL

but that doesn’t mean we forget all other social ills ☹.

I don’t recall the source or location of this Twitter picture but KUDOS to the inventor for this simple ‘garbage collector’ system to capture debris, rubbish, flotsam, etc.

So much of Karachi’s industrial waste, rubbish & sewerage finds its way into the Sea through its identifiable & controllable outlets & nalas (nala = stream). 

There are manifold advantages to this simple model-

  • It’s cheap & easy to make – really, all it is, is a modified fishing net! 
  • Easy to set up & operate – the way I visualize it is that you place it over the city sewer and “stormwater drain” outlets where they discharge into the creeks & canals leading into the sea. 

Not only will it contain all the debris, stopping its passage into the sea on the ebb tide; but debris coming into the City on the flood tide will be contained.

  • It will lead to employment – let the villagers on the cusp of these drainage outlets be responsible for the operation of this system.  They capture, collect and bag all such debris & flotsam; the City pays them; and KWSB simply schedules its collection thrice a day from each of these spots.

Take for example the stormwater drain (built in the ‘80’s by the World Bank) which passes Mai Kolachi into Chinna Creek.  Over the last four decades, it morphed into a sewer.  If you place one of these collection nets at the discharge outlet point (where it drops into Chinna Creek), you will effectively capture almost ALL plastic bags, Styrofoam and other floating debris.  This can then be bagged and collected by KWSB or KPT. 

Other such outlets are at – Shireen Jinnah Colony, Lyari River & it’s various streams, Moosa Lane Nala (fish harbour), Korangi Creek & it’s various nalas, Budnai Nala (Sandspit), Gogni & Nalas (Hawksbay), Hub River, nalas near HUBCO, Kanupp & Port Qasim.

WHERE THERE IS A WILL … THERE IS A WAY to clean up this City!

“Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery” (Further Ramblings of a Layman [COVID]- 2)

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April 19, 2020

Well, we are in a Pandemic and it’s not really about “flattery”- it’s more about …

COPY WHAT SEEMS TO WORK from past and current experiences, regardless of personal or political conflict, geographical boundaries or religion!

So, what seems to be working?

  1. Mitigation strategies-
    1. Scale up COVID tests & diagnosis- doing large number of lab diagnoses allow authorities to slow the spread of the infection by isolating known cases while they are infectious, enabling treatment to be administered at a far earlier stage
    1. Increase easily available, random & free testing
    1. “Test and trace for the high-at-risk groups”, which means increasing the manufacture of local test kits
    1. Continue to maintain social distancing
    1. Limit contact with older people, they being more susceptible to the Virus
    1. Two types of testing is required-
      1. Serology tests- which will identify infected patients with antibodies (this will help determine who is immune and help people get back to normal life)
      1. Rapid-antigen test- to diagnose those who carry the virus (without or with minimal symptoms)
  2. Open testing & drive-through centers in each of Karachi’s – as an example – 178 Union Councils to screen as many people, as quickly, as possible.  All tests would be recorded through their CNICs, immediately tested with temperature scan and throat swab.  People who may have interacted with an infected patient should report to testing centers for checking.
  3. “R-0” (R-naught) is the number of new infections an infected person passes on.  Only when R0 is less than 1 will the pandemic start reducing.  So, all mitigation strategies should continue “one month after you drive down the R-naught to zero”.
  4. Increase LOCAL supply chains so as to provide protective gear, supplies & equipment to front line health workers & hospitals; and going hand-in-hand, continuous monitoring and protection of all medical and other essential workers.
  5. Contact Tracing- tracking travel history & all movements of every COVID patient so as to find & test every person in contact with the patient.  This will identify transmission networks and preempt possible further carriers.
  6. Use of Modern Technology & Communications-
    1. *An accurate communication system that disseminates the movements of potentially infected people, in which geographical areas, etc.  There should be ONE SOURCE of this information and all you need to do is push it out to each of the Telco carriers in the City for onwards distribution to the public.  This will enable less contact between possible affected and those not. 
    2. My brother’s suggestion was to use “easy-paisa” & other such portals to disseminate the Federal & Provincial funds to the needy & poor instead of cash payouts.  With almost 80% mobile subscribers in Pakistan, majority of the recipients will be documented, leading to less fraud.

A macro shift is needed from a patient-centered model to community-system care that offers pandemic solutions for the entire population (with a specific emphasis on home care).  As mentioned in my earlier article (https://dinshawavari.com/2020/04/07/a-laymans-thoughts-on-mitigation-strategies-covid/), self-quarantine & home care should not be discounted- it will relieve the strain on hospitals & health workers.

As before, the views in this Paper are personal, from a series of publications I recently studied-

A Layman’s Thoughts on Mitigation Strategies [COVID]

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April 7, 2020

(This is a long article)

Pakistan does not have the resources to sustain a lengthy closure yet we can’t all come out “dancing on the streets”.

However, I feel a four-pronged action is now the order of the day- continue with Coronavirus mitigation, restart limited commerce getting people back to work, the Government works on helping affected companies and uses funds to aid the unemployed (through registered NGOs).

The views in this Paper are personal and formed with a combination of thoughts from family members, inhouse executives and a series of publications on incentives being created by European governments on COVID-19 mitigation (some bibliography at the end).

COVID MITIGATION

  1. Government contracts local, reputed medical manufacturers to urgently manufacture N-95 masks for entire population.
  2. Isolate areas of city/towns where virus is dense and lock off those areas.
  3. Increase random testing.
  4. All “at-risk” people (demographics by age, prior respiratory problems like pneumonia, heart victims, etc) to mandatorily stay at home.
  5. Guarantee access to COVID testing & care at no cost – no matter a person’s employment status
  6. Make it mandatory for populace wear the N-95 facemasks when out of the house, with stiff, on-the-spot penalties for contravention.
  7. Any COVID family member to be isolated – for mental satisfaction, can stay in their own house but with completely separate facilities, etc otherwise to go to govt mandated facility.  If former, then no contact between family members.
  8. Affected people must inform authorities of their condition, whereabouts – and authorities will keep check on them
  9. Sanitize & disinfect all public areas (be it transport, bus stops, hand rails, etc)
  10. Ensure supply on controlled prices of essential commodities, food items & medicines through utility stores & other channels; and ensure hoarding and price gouging does not take place.
  11. Pass on more benefit of int’l oil price reduction to public while government retains a portion to be used for the poor, daily wagers and unemployed during this crisis
  12. Duty free import for items NOT being locally manufactured- especially medical supplies.

RESTART COMMERCE

  1. Restart industrial activity –
    1. However, only those companies registered with the SECP and Federal &/or provincial revenue boards AND are regular tax assessees would be allowed this facility.
    1. Only those companies NOT directly in contagion areas/zones.
  2. Responsibility of company directors/owners –
    1. Companies to ensure their employees are kept on the payroll- even if on [paid] leave – from the time of COVID downturn.
    1. All normal staff benefits (especially health) to continue.
    1. Daily wagers who are part of company operations would also continue as if no crisis had continued, even if the work for which they were casually employed has finished.
    1. Worker conditions, hygiene & sanitation as per COVID guidelines.
    1. Where possible, these companies to have labour stay on premises to reduce contact with outside world.
    1. ALL workers to wear masks, disposable gloves & use hand sanitizer in their work areas.
    1. When leaving work areas, dispose gloves, use hand sanitizer but keep wearing mask.
    1. Food shifts to be ensured to have minimal people together for meals
    1. All utensils to be cleaned with WHO-recommended cleaners- all surfaces, chairs, etc between food shifts too
    1. All work places, machines, toilets, etc to be regularly sanitized & disinfected.
    1. Temperature reading 3 times for 100% of staff in each shift.
    1. Immediately isolation & care of sick workers.
  3. Public space access – eg malls, offices, hotels, restaurants, etc- hands to be sanitized and guests to be given disposable gloves & face masks.
  4. Resume delivery services with delivery person using gloves & mask; and sanitizing the delivered items in front of recipient before handing it over.

GOV’T BAILOUT OF COMPANIES

By doing the below actions, Gov’t will help companies absorb the costs and shocks of this crisis, yet not give direct cash injection, keep people employed (even if at home) and restart economic activity.

  1. In return Gov’t will assist such companies subsidize their operations & costs from beginning February 2020 to end August 2020.
    1. In the first phase, would only apply to those companies which are directly affected by this crisis resulting in over 70% of their income being affected- and can be proved and established with documentation.
    1. Would only apply to companies registered with the SECP and Federal &/or provincial revenue boards AND are regular tax assessees.
    1. Any misuse & contravention of this bailout by companies would be a criminal action under CrPC.
    1. Specified registered private audit firms would audit revenue-side of each company applying for this bailout prior to bailout facilities.
  2. Following are the bailout suggestions-
    1. Exemption from all statutory taxes, duties & fees (federal, provincial, excise, vend).
    1. Exemption from all labour-related taxes, fees & cess.
    1. Exemption from Provident fund contribution from both parties.
    1. Exemption on all TAXES on UTILITIES for period of shutdown (and all such billing on actual-reading basis and not average-basis).
    1. Heavily subsidized utility costs- electricity, gas, water & sewerage.
    1. Drastic reduction in markup rates by slashing KIBOR to 2%.
    1. Exemption from sales tax.  If full exemption cannot be given, exempt period of COVID crisis and defer the payment of sales for the balance period.
    1. Lifting of restrictions on Input Tax claims.
    1. Defer the payments of supplier & employee withholding taxes.
    1. Defer the payment of Advance Tax.
    1. Easy loans to such companies – for which SBP regulations will not apply and repayment will be over 10 years, with a two-year moratorium.
    1. Moratorium for existing commercial loans on such companies by one year.

AID THE UNEMPLOYED

By working with & through registered NGOs, the government can use cash incentives directly for other affected workers directly, the underprivileged & families who are not covered by above companies.

  1. Food rations to poor people and out of work families to be conducted by & through REGISTERED NGOs only- like Rotary clubs, etc. 
    1. Government will provide the food rations to said NGOs but distribution will be NGOs responsibility.
      1. This will ensure that food is fairly and honestly distributed. 
      1. Each NGO can be responsible for a certain geographic area and monitor/record said people through their CNIC. 
      1. Such data to be provided by NGOs to provincial gov’t who in turn will cross check it with NADRA database.
    1. This will be the starting point for the creation of an official unemployment database too.

The above will ensure government resources and personnel are better redirected to controlling & curing actual COVID cases in known contagion areas.

“…and people who keep their jobs ‘are less unhappy and shocked [..]

They are less likely to dramatically cut their consumption.

That limits the overall economic damage.  

When social distancing ends, millions of employer-employee

relationships will have been destroyed,

slowing down the recovery [..].”

(REFERENCES-

1. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/business/france-coronavirus-unemployment.html

2. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/30/opinion/coronavirus-economy-saez-zucman.html