Poor Daily Wagers Awaiting For Sufficient Donations By Authorities

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Apr, 2020 ) :The daily wagers and people holding minor jobs in the country have demanded of the authorities to provide them sufficient financial and other daily items donations as the novel COVID-19 virus has put devastated effects on their lives to meet the ends.

Talking to this scribe of APP on Sunday, Sufi Saeed 33 resident of Rawalpindi and by profession a newspaper hawker said that it was already hard for the poor section of the society to meet their ends that closure of trains, restaurants and decline in newspapers demand snatched away the hope of winning bread for a day even.

''I used to deliver newspaper to more than 80 houses before corona virus spread which has been reduced to now 17 only, I was a shopkeeper at someone's shop but that was also closed now,'' he said.

People were so scared of the corona virus pandemic disease that it stopped their habit of reading the newspapers as they thought newspaper could also transfer the particles of corona, this had dented our income and increased our worries, he stated.

Khursheed Khan a 72 years old hawker from capital said that he was the sole earner for his family and could not do anything else except delivering newspaper but now it was like to starve as he didn't have another mean of income.

''We daily come here with a hope to earn something but all in vain, sometimes rich and generous people were used to give away some money to us, Adil Butt another coolie said.

Though the restaurants are shut down to contain the infectious disease but the waiters and catering boys who worked on daily wages faced the consequences, Rashid Ali a 17-year-old waiter at an eaterie in F/10 said.

He further added, this pandemic has forced him to suffer due to financial crisis along with his family.

Authorities had promised to help with groceries and ration but it was the issue of major things like paying rent and bills, the private workers would be forced to leave the rented houses by the landlords as they could not pay the rents anymore, he added.

Babu Ahmed a middle aged coolie said more than half of his life was spent on railway station to carry travelers' luggage but he couldn't make enough money to buy a house of his own, the daily earned amount was barely enough to feed his children, this closure of trains compelled him to beg for alms,he shared.

"All my expenses are haunting me as i can't pay my rent and buy medicines for my badly ill parents,'' he added.

There were taxi and rickshaw drivers, local transport drivers and conductors, maids and keepers who desperately waiting for someone to extend their hand and support them during this testing-time.