Provincial Minister for Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Social Welfare Raja Basharat has said that Punjab is the only province which has provided legal protection to the measures taken to prevent Corona through an Ordinance while earlier, emergency measures against Corona were being carried out under Section 144. He was addressing a press conference with the Provincial Minister of Health at the Chief Minister's Secretariat on Thursday. He said that government’s relations with the Ulema are going smoothly while federal government is bringing a centralized policy regarding mosques after consultation with Ulema which would also be followed by the Punjab. Raja said that the demands of the traders are genuine on which a working committee had finalized its recommendations which will be presented to the Chief Minister Punjab in the next 24 hours. "We are leading the scholars and businessmen in confidence and their support is also there," he said. Earlier, he elaborated on the new initiatives regarding Corona Lock Down, saying that by April 25, markets, shopping malls, public and non-government offices, public transport, religious gatherings, public and private sports competitions and festivals, ceremonies at home or private venues, snooker clubs, gyms, wedding halls, schools, colleges, universities, technical and vocational education institutes, tuition centers, religious seminaries and educational institutions will be completely banned. He said that the areas which have been opened for the benefit of the public include employees of important or indispensable departments, lawyers going to important cases, judges and staff, public interest institutions like WAPDA, WASA, Sui Gas, Telephone, municipalities, mobile companies and their franchises, defense production companies with the necessary staff, financial institutions, securities and exchange commissions, stock exchanges, central depository companies and affiliated companies, Ehsas programs and Benazir income support programs, Health Services, exceptions given by Commissioners locally, medicines manufacturers and their associated dispensaries, funerals prayer, call centers with 50% staff, grocery stores, bakeries, flour Chakkies, milk shops, Auto workshops, petrol pumps and oil depots, home delivery and takeaway service of hotels and food points, petrol pumps, LPG shops and filling stations, postal and courier services, pick-and-drop service, welfare organization providing free food and essential services, food packaging industry, dry port and allied customer services, poultry and feed mills; Fertilizers Company and its Supply Chain, Tetra Packs and Other Packing Institutions, Hygiene Production Companies and supply chain, Oil and Gas Production Institutions and their contractors, fertilizers, seeds and pesticides and their supply chain, tractors and agricultural machinery and equipment makers and workshops, pharmaceutical-related printing, packaging , bottles and capsule shell, soda ash industries with minimal staff, cement making companies and supply chains and machineries Transformer companies with minimum staff, media persons as designated by the Information Department and newspaper vendors, chemical industries, software, programming and tech support companies, glass manufacturing, paper factories with precautionary measures, packaging units, gardening and plant establishments and nurseries. He told that Milk and meat shops will be open from 9am to 8pm, Grocery stores, departmental stores, meat and fish shops, optician shops, bakeries, agricultural sprays, fertilizers, seed shops, auto workshops and agricultural machinery workshops will be open from 9am to 5pm while petrol pumps, LPG outlets, pharmacies, fruit and vegetable markets, Flour chakkies, postal and courier service, printing press, takeaway and home delivery service and call centers can be open after 8pm. The law minister said the purpose of this press conference was to inform the new changes in sanctions during Lockdown. He warned that these sanctions would be strictly enforced to ensure the safety of the people to safeguard the precious human lives.
