Rs2,000 monthly subsidy to those earning less than Rs40,000: Marriyum Aurangzeb

ISLAMABAD: Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb on Friday said the government would give Rs2,000 monthly subsidy to all the citizens earning less than Rs40,000, so that they could absorb the inflationary pressure after the increase in petroleum products’ prices.

Anybody whose monthly salary is less than Rs40,000 would get Rs2,000 per month from the government. Whether it was a labourer, a farmer, a teacher, a vendor, a working woman or a student who did part time work to bear expenses of his/her education, all would be given the subsidy, she told a news conference. 

She asked eligible persons to make a call to 786 to get the relief. Rs2,000 would be given in a transparent manner after checking the income-level of the caller.

The minister said the relief package was announced prior to the decision taken by the government to increase the prices of petroleum products. “We have done this before and set the example by doing it again. We do not raise mere slogans and lecture others as it is the PTI which had given the gifts of inflation, massive unemployment and economic woes to people,” she observed.

She said people had given PTI chief Imran Khan a chance to bring prosperity in the country, but his only focus was on filling the pockets of mafias and cartels patronised by him. She said Imran was doing nothing but politics based on lies, deception and hypocrisy. “On the contrary, we have the vision and capability, and we will chart the country on the path to progress and prosperity.”

The coalition government would break the vicious cycle of inflation, and its visionary leadership would steer the country out of all the crises, she remarked and said Imran Khan, despite being in the power for four years, had nothing to highlight his performance. His "cheap politics and narrative" destroyed the country, increased poverty and rendered thousands of youths unemployed, she added.

The minister said it was the current government which was striving to save people from inflationary impacts caused by the bad governance and wrong policies of the PTI government. Imran Khan used the backdoor to get the deal signed, she remarked.

She chided Imran Khan for playing poems imbibed with national emotions in his public gatherings. She said if he really knew the meaning of poems like ''Hum Daikhain Gay'' and ''Jaag Utha Hai Sara Watan''. He should be ashamed of himself for doing all this, she added.