Sindh to pay Rs1 million as compensation to families of employees who died of COVID-19
Karachi: The Sindh government has decided that it will pay Rs1 million in compensation to the bereaved family of each of its in-service employees who died due to COVID-19.
A decision to this effect was reached as the Sindh Cabinet met here at the Chief Minister House on Tuesday with Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in the chair.
The compensation will also be applicable to the contractual employees of the Sindh government.
The cabinet meeting was informed that so far 24 personnel of the Sindh Police had lost their lives due to COVID-19.
The cabinet meeting also gave authorisation to the proposal to deploy troops of Pakistan Army in the province for ensuring implementation of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) against the spread of COVID-19.
The army troops will be deployed to aid the civil administration in Sindh for ensuring compliance with COVID-19 SOPs.
Earlier, on April 25, Federal Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, announced that army troops were being deployed around the country, except in Sindh, to ensure that the general public should duly observe the SOPs against the spread of coronavirus.
The COVID-19 infection rate in Sindh has not been as alarming as in the upcountry areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. On Tuesday, Sindh reported another 1,084 cases of coronavirus out of 14,465 tests conducted in the last 24 hours. The province also reported another 19 deaths due to coronavirus in 24 hours.
The Sindh government’s coronavirus task force, which met on Monday, decided to impose a strict lockdown to battle the third wave of coronavirus infections. These measures include closure of all educational institutions, 20 per cent attendance of employees in government offices, 50 per cent attendance in private offices, closure of all markets and shopping centres by 6 pm daily, compulsory wearing of masks by shoppers, suspension of inter-city passenger transport service, and ban on both indoor and outdoor dining at the restaurants.
The CM hoped that these measures would prove sufficient in preventing the surge in coronavirus cases in the province.
The Sindh government also wrote to Chief Justice of Sindh High Court requesting him that only cases of urgent nature should be heard by the courts in the province while rest of the judicial work should remain suspended.
The formal letter to this effect was written by Sindh Law Adviser Barrister Murtaza Wahab. He wrote that such measures were required to safeguard the health of judges, lawyers, court staff and litigants.
