The Awami National Party (ANP) has issued a set of comprehensive policies on availability and use of Coronavirus Vaccination and management of impact of COVID-19 on Economy and Education.
Addressing a session of the party’s policy planning wing, Sardar Hussain Babak, MPA, and Provincial General Secretary of the party, discussed party’s draft policies with party members. The finalized ANP Policy on Coronavirus Vaccination, and Economy and Education were also released to the media in a press talk afterwards.
The ANP policy on Coronavirus Vaccination bases selection of vaccine keeping in mind the cost, efficacy and the applicability of vaccine in Pakistan. The storage conditions of vaccination should also be ensured while procuring and storing the vaccine as it is observed that it needs -8 to -20 temperature for storage. The ANP demands that the government should procure the vaccine earlier than April 2021 and it should be administered universally and free of cost starting with areas with higher density of COVID-19 infections. The ANP policy also states that priority vaccination be given to health workers and teachers.
The ANP policy stresses on local manufacturing of the vaccine to allow costs to go down and to ensure availability to all. However, a mechanism to oversee the manufacturing and quality control according to international standards needs to be ensured.
The ANP policy on managing the impact of COVID-19 on Economy opposes lock-downs but places strict emphasis on following SoPs. The party believes that lockdown is not an option as it has adversely impacted all segments of the society financially and requires huge resources to manage. The ANP policy also states that there should be no lock-downs for factories and construction activities while provision of subsidies to be made to small and medium enterprises.
The ANP policy on management of impact of COVID-19 on Education stresses that all educational institutions must remain open while strictly following SOPs. According to Article 25-A of the Constitution of Pakistan, the ANP supports providing free and compulsory education to all children. Its policy lays emphasis on provision of broadband internet across KP with special focus on the merged districts of erstwhile FATA to facilitate online education for all. The party policy outlines provision of smartphones or laptops to students based on availability of governmental funds. The party policy supports providing students with concession in fees and increase in scholarships to deserving students. The ANP policy supports providing universal free of cost education up to matriculation.
In presenting finalised ANP policies, Mr. Babak said that the party policies have been formulated through gathering perspectives from the citizens by party’s youth and female membership and have been debated within the party think tank.
Members of the ANP policy planning wing who joined the meeting included Mr. Abdul Rahim Wazir, General Secretary, Islamabad, Mr. Abdurrauf Yousafzai, Member, Mr. Amir Alam, Member, Dr. Javeria Hayat Khan, Member, Dr. Shaukat Amir Zada, Director, Bacha Khan Health Foundation, Mr. Ihsan Ullah Khan, Deputy General Secretary Punjab, Mr. Imran Ashna, Member, Ms. Irum Fatima, Central Vice President, Mr. Muhammad Asif Khan, Member, Mr. Mukhtiar Khan Yousafzai, Provincial Secretary Finance, Ms. Rabia Sattar, Central Joint Secretary, Ms. Rozina Khan, Vice President, Peshawar, Ms. Sana Gulzar, Member, Sardar Hussain Babak, Provincial General Secretary, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ms. Shagufta Malik, MPA, Ms. Shaheen Zameer, Provisional Joint Secretary, Mr. Shahi Khan Sherani, Provincial Vice President, Mr. Shahnawaz Mashaal, Member of Policy and Research Wing, Ms. Shazia Aurangzeb, Provincial Vice President and Syeda Nazia Shah, Vice President, Mardan.