SMS being sent under Ehsaas programme: Centre urged to bear charges being deducted by mobile companies

Sindh Minister for Information, Local Government, Housing & Town Planning, Religious Affairs, Forest and Wildlife Syed Nasir Hussain Shah has said that it was extremely regrettable that mobile companies were deducting the balances of all those needy people who were sending messages to receive cash under the federal government's announced Ehsaas program.

Provincial Information Minister requested the federal government to take immediate action so that poor people who were already suffering from lockdown in the wake of the spread of the coronavirus would not suffer any more. He said that the federal government should bear the costs of all the SMS being sent under Ehsaas program. Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said that the federal government should immediately direct the mobile companies to not to deduct the balance of the sender of the messages under the Ehsaas Program. He said that freeing these messages would facilitate the people.

Meanwhile, Sindh Minister for Information has said that the rapid increase in the number of coronavirus patients in the country is extremely alarmingly. The first case of the coronavirus was reported in the country on February 26, and the number reached thousands in 29 days, while in the last two days, there are surge of 864 new Coronavirus-infected patients in the country, the provincial minister said. "The rapid increase in the number of Coronavirus affected patients is a matter of great concern," he said. Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said the situation could worsen if people did not take precautionary measures and did not follow the government's announced health advisory. The Minister said that it was not possible to get rid of the pandemic, unless the people fully followed the lock down. He urged the people to follow the directives of the government and refrain from leaving their homes except for any emergency. Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said it was feared that the number of people affected by the Coronavirus would increase by thousands in three days. Provincial Minister for Information said that the situation was serious and we had to recognize it and take precautionary measures accordingly before long, or else, it would be late. "We have to prove ourselves decent citizen and take care of others, while keeping ourselves safe," he said. Lock down was being implemented in Sindh, and needed to be tightened, Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said. Provincial Information Minister said that in total 217 Coronavirus patients had recovered in Sindh, while another 11 patients recovered in last 24 hours. -PR