KARACHI: The telecom industry is not ready to implement the decision of Sindh government to block SIMs of those consumers who will not get themselves vaccinated in a week in the province.
Actually, the people are not ready to queue up again in NADRA offices in Sindh to get the certificate of vaccination, said a number of people who have been vaccinated. The Sindh government and vaccination centers have been asking people to get certificates from NADRA after showing their vaccination slips, they added.
“it’s very hard to get a certificate from NADRA offices as there are long queues of people seeking the document,” said a Sindh government employee who was vaccinated from Expo Center.
He said that he did not want to waste the whole day again to get a certificate from the NADRA office. He provided his Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) number at the vaccination center and NADRA should update its record, he added.
When contacted, a telecom official said that the industry wouldn’t oblige any such call as it is depriving a person of one of his basic rights. The government should take other measures to persuade people to get themselves vaccinated, he added.
The telecom industry is weighing its options and may approach the PTA to clarify its point of view when needed, he added.
However, an industry source claimed that the Sindh and Punjab governments have not sent any letter to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) till now.
In a bid to inoculate people against the novel coronavirus, the Sindh government, following in the footsteps of Punjab, has also decided to block the SIM cards of unvaccinated individuals.
About a week ago, Sindh Minister for Information Syed Nasir Hussain Shah suggested the government block SIMs of those who do not get vaccinated.
On his suggestions, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said that the Sindh government is sending a letter to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) to block SIMs of those people who are not vaccinated in the province.
It should be noted that the NCOC has said that the government will continue its mass vaccination campaign under a three-pronged strategy.
