Daily Times

The people at ‘Panahgahs’, with pre-existing health conditions, are at higher risk of catching the novel coronavirus, and thus, its management has ramped up its efforts to ensure uninterrupted supply of hygiene products to all the facilities of twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

“Since the Panahgahs serve a number of people which may carry underlying medical conditions, so it was imperative to take extras steps to keep the places neat and tidy amid the global pandemic,” Prime Minister’s Focal Person Naseem ur Rehman told the media at Bara Kahu Shelter Home on Sunday.

He visited the facility to review the measures taken by its service provider to ensure observance of the coronavirus precautions like social distancing and mask wearing.

Highlighting the management’s major initiative, he said a cleanliness drive title ‘Keep Panahgahs Clean’ was launched to transform the scope of shelter homes from food and shelter towards promoting healthy lives at the facilities in the wake of coronavirus.

Under the campaign, he said politicians, civil society, private sector and affluent community members were being approached to procure soaps, sanitizers, gloves and masks for the shelter homes beneficiaries, which had been increasing with each passing day due to the reopening of construction sector and the advent of Ramazan.

Along with providing food and shelter, Naseem said, strong messages on promoting healthy lifestyle were being disseminated to a group of long neglected low income toiling migrant labour. Besides, provision of the medical supplies to every shelter home in the twin cities was a top most priority of the management to avert the virus outbreak.

The Focal Person said the shelter homes were being disinfected on regular basis. “The teams of the district administrations are playing leading role in sanitization of the ‘Panahgahs’, he added.

Pointing out an out of box solution to create awareness among the visitors on the coronavirus, he said large size radios were installed at each ‘Panahgah’ to directly communicate the health massages to daily wage earners who were less-educated.

Special programmes on the COVID-19 were produced to broadcast on those radios daily, he added.

“We have deputed teams to impart information to the staff of ‘Panahgahs’ on the coronavirus precautions so that they could make the residents about the deadly virus for their own and others’ safety,” he said, adding the awareness sessions for the shelter homes’ dwellers were a routine activity. The Focal Person said thermo scanners, hand washing booths and disinfection walk through gates were installed at almost each Panahgah of both the cities to promote healthy habits among the visitors, he added.

He said the residents were also being engaged in physical activities like grass cutting and tree plantation to enhance the green covers at the shelter homes.

“All the initiatives being taken under the ‘Keep Panahgahs Clean’ specifically focus on protection of the residents’ lives through inclusiveness.”

Keeping shelter homes open in the prevailing situation was a bold step which was a true reflection of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision of building a welfare state on the pattern of Medina, the focal person noted.