Ehsaas programme a step towards creation of a welfare state: Dr. Sania

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Dr. Sania Nishtar today (Friday) said that the Ehsaas programme was a step towards the creation of a ‘welfare state’, ARY News reported.

Speaking at a dialogue with the visiting President of World Economic Forum Borge Brende in Islamabad, she said the programme is aimed at countering elitist hegemony, promoting financial inclusion and supporting the economic empowerment of women.

The World Economic Forum President, in his address said that the huge presence of youth in the population spells extensive potential for renewable energy and massive scope for skill building.

Pakistan has a great opportunity for economic growth, he added.

Earlier, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Poverty Alleviation and B.I.S.P chairperson Sania Nishtar on July 6 called the ‘Ehsaas’ initiative country’s biggest organized program aimed towards poverty alleviation, ARY News reported.

Miss Nishtar apprised the media in a press conference that the initiative entailed 115 programs under its umbrella.

She also revealed that the program was going to represented in front of the World Health Organization (WHO) in an upcoming meeting where a briefing upon the undertaking would be given to the attendees.

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She also announced that the program would become functional within a month in all the provinces of the country.

Earlier, In a policy statement on Ehsaas programme, Prime Minister Imran Khan on April 8 said that Ehsaas’ poverty reduction strategy was articulated in four pillars and it currently embodied 115 policy actions, which may be expanded as the process of consultations on the program, further widened.

In a tweet, he said his priority poverty reduction programme with its four focus areas and 115 policy actions will reduce inequality, invest in people, and uplift lagging districts.

According to a statement issued from his office, PM Imran reiterated his determination that Ehsaas was about the creation of a welfare state.

He said for this purpose all tools and technology would be used to create precision safety nets and to promote financial inclusion besides supporting the economic empowerment of women.

Imran Khan said the program’s principles and approaches center on tapping multi-sectoral collaboration for solutions, ensuring joint federal-provincial leadership and mainstreaming the role of the private sector.

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He said an approach had been adopted to provide a level playing field on the one hand and foster locally-relevant innovation on the other, to create jobs and promote livelihood in quick-win areas.

The prime minister said, “The program is for the extreme poor, jobless, poor farmers, laborers, sick and undernourished as well as for students from low-income backgrounds and for poor women and elderly citizens.”

This plan, he said, is also about lifting lagging areas where poverty is higher.