‘Unnecessary movement must be controlled while ensuring writ of state’

Islamabad : Centre for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS) organised an online interactive session titled ‘Suggestive Measures for Lifting the Lockdown: What can be the Phases.’ The aim of the session was to discuss the recommendations that can be fruitful for uplifting the lockdown, says a press release.

The session was chaired by Nadeem ul Haq, vice chancellor, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE). He stated that this is a bigger war than 1965 and 1971 but unfortunately our response has been less than required.” We have done nothing during the lockdown and have done no preparations. We do not have any specialists, we need epidemiologist, virologist and economists to devise a sound strategy with their input,” he added.

Air Vice Marshal (r) Saeed Khan stated that government must come up with certain does and don’ts which must be implemented immediately. “We need long-term and mid-term policy while prioritizing our health sector. Innovation is required that can be achieved through the specialists,” he added.

Lieutenant General (r) Masood Aslam, member Advisory Board stated that we must ease the lockdown to continue the economic activities and any reaction from the religious and social activists must be dealt strictly otherwise it will prove to be counterproductive. Unnecessary movement must be controlled while ensuring strict official status.

Other panellists of the session stated that the announcement by the government regarding the extension of the lockdown on 14 April needs further clarification. It was opined that government is incrementally opening certain sectors which are interrelated with other business, therefore, connected issues of downstream industries must also be addressed.

A complete lockdown in our society is not possible, therefore government must opt for smart lockdown approach by devising a 14 days plan keeping in view our organizational capabilities. The lockdown must be lifted in two phases, first phase requires identification and assessment of red zone and clear zone, so that during the second phase, lockdown from the clear zones can be lifted.

The use of masks and gloves must be made mandatory by the government and must opt for mass production of safety gears including masks, gloves and sanitizers, which must be distributed amongst the public. We must also conduct more tests, as currently, we do not have denominators of actual infection rate. There is not much information and data to devise a sound policy. It is about time that civil society must push for occupational health and safety standards in the factories. There is a lack of public obedience in our society, hence government must strictly ensure the writ of the state.

We need to mobilise our own production and reduce our exports. We have to mechanise our supply chain and wheels of the internal market must kept spinning in a controlled manner. People are not in a lockdown instead the businesses are at lockdown, so certain sectors must be opened but with proper digital monitoring, tracking and testing. We are entering in the phase of community transmission, we must declare health emergency. This can become a National Security Risk if proper measures are not adopted.

The Online Interactive Session was attended by 30 participants. The panellists included experts of different fields including the following: Major General (r) Syed Khalid Amir Jaffery, president CGSS, Major General Farooq Ahmad Khan, former DG NDMA, Brigadier (r) Mansoor Saeed , senior member Advisory Board CGSS, Lieutenant General Asad Durrani, senior analyst, Amir Zafar Durrani, President Reenergia, Brigadier (r) Akhtar Nawaz Janjua, senior member Advisory Board CGSS, Dr. Basharat Hassan Bashir, specialist, Public Health Engineering & member Advisory Board CGSS, Lieutenant Colonel (r) Ather Sultan, logistic expert, Amir Ghauri, Editor ‘The News’, Dr. Samia Altaf, Public Health specialist, Dr. Durre Nayab, joint director Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Dr. Ashfaq Ahmad, assistant professor, IR Department University of Sargodha, Tauqeer Ahmad, member Advisory Board CGSS, Mehmood-ul- Hassan, member Advisory Board & regional/geopolitical analyst, Brigadier Muhammad Aslam, member Board of Advisers CGSS, Ashfaq Ahmad Gondal, senior member Board of Advisers, A.V. Azher Hassan, member board of Advisers CGSS and Shakeel Ramay, Member Board of Advisers CGSS & Director SDPI.