Civil society in Gilgit-Baltistan demands immediate COVID-19 relief

The cooperative society of Gilgit-Baltistan has asked the Pakistan government to sanction Rs 10,000 crore to make up for the economic losses due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The president of the society said that they welcomed the announcement of a relief package but the region must be given a significant amount to meet its needs.

Meer Nawaz Khan, President of Cooperative Society of Gilgit-Baltistan said, "We appreciate the central government's announcement of Rs 120,000 crore to battle the current crisis. We demand that Rs 10,000 crore of that amount should be sanctioned for Gilgit-Baltistan."

Gilgit-Baltistan has registered 257 COVID-19 cases. It is believed the occupied region bordering China's Xinjiang province have many unreported COVID-19 cases due to lack of testing labs and kits.

The committee has also asked the government to release funds in order to help the people who have been hit hard due to the lockdown.

It urged the government to waive off the fees of all the academic institutions as domestic budgets and finances have stumbled amid lockdown.

"We want that fee of all schools, colleges and universities should be waived off. We also want that private schools should be offered a grant so that fee in those schools can also be waived off. Poor women who had taken loans through government and NGOs to start their small-scale businesses have been severely hit. Their loans should be waived off," Meer Nawaz said.

The members also accused the government of making extravagant expenditures from the exchequer in order to keep up with their own luxurious lifestyles.

These accusations came after the local leaders booked all rooms of 52 hotels for just 52 patients. This comes at a time when the region has an acute shortage of testing kits and PPE suits.

A cooperative society member said, "The government does not have a problem of resources but its intentions are not honest. Mismanagement and lack of intention is the key reason. I have heard that 27 vehicles and three helicopters went to receive the aid from China. There is no deficit of budgets. Only last year, we had allocated Rs 28 crore to the local governments. Budget worth billions will be lapsing in June."

He added, "The loans which we are talking about can be covered in just Rs 300 to 400 crore. It is a small region with a population of just 1.5 million. Not providing PPEs is not because of the budget deficit but their attitude. The per-day expense of the luxury cars being driven by secretaries and directors is in crores."

The local administration which works at the suggestions and commands of Islamabad has been exploiting the public money for decades.

While all the resources have been indiscriminately exploited, they are not sparing even a health crisis of COVID-19 magnitude. In fact, they see it as an opportunity to plunder even more.

( With inputs from ANI )

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