Punjab to introduce Corona Ordinance, seeks Army s help
March 22, 2020 02:01 PM
The Punjab government has sought the military’s assistance as the coronavirus cases shot up to 152 in the province.
Addressing a news conference at Expo Centre in Lahore on Sunday, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar said the provincial cabinet in its next meeting will approve Corona Ordinance to deal with the pandemic.
The Punjab government has written to the Centre seeking military's assistance. The chief minister said seeking Army’s assistance is in the national interest as his government will exhaust all options for the protection of the public.
He told newsmen that there was no shortage of food in the province and the administration is on the watch so that no one can exploit the situation.
Buzdar said the government officials have done their homework and completed mapping of the whole province so where they can arrange isolation centres if the need arises. "We are making arrangements to cater about 100,000 people," he added.
To a question, he said the situation at quarantine centre in DG Khan is under control and authorities are dealing with the problems faced by the inmates.
Earlier, the governments of Sindh and Balochistan sought assistance from the Army under Article 245 to help them in containing the spread of the pandemic.
The Sindh’s call for help came as Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah was preparing to announce a complete lockdown of the province later Sunday.
Sindh Information Minister Nasir Hussain Shah said the lockdown initially could be for 15 days.
As the situation getting worse with every passing day, the Sindh government has requested the Federation to send in Army for the help of civil administration under Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) in imposing the lockdown.
On the other hand, the Balochistan government has also written a letter to the Centre for delegating civil authority to the Army under Article 245 in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The provincial government wrote to the Interior Ministry requesting for the military in aid of civil power under Article 245 of the Constitution read with Section 131(A) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc).