Prime Minister Imran Khan yesterday addressed the nation and announced a “historic” relief package worth Rs120 billion to mitigate the hardships of the inflation-hit public.
Under the package, he said, 30 per cent subsidy would be given on ghee, flour, and pulses for the next six months.
The prime minister, in his televised address to the nation, said 20 million families would benefit from the subsidy package to be funded jointly by the federal and provincial governments.
Addressing a press conference today, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection, Dr Sania Nishtar announced that a web portal to register families under the new initiative of Ehsaas Rashan Programme will open from November 8.
“The Ehsaas Rashan program is being launched after a thorough planning including field testing, proof of concept, piloting and technology measures”, the SAPM said.
She said that Ehsaas Rashan Programme will benefit 20 million families and overall 130 million people nationwide including those already registered under the Kafalat program.
How beneficiaries will be identified for Ehsaas Rashan?
SAPM Sania Nishtar said that the beneficiaries will be identified with the help of the new Ehsaas National Socio Economic Registry (NSER) Survey.
She said the Ehsaas Rashan Program will provide a subsidy of Rs 1,000 per month to each of the 20 million families on the purchase of flour, pulses, ghee or cooking oil.
Requirements
Those who want to get benefit from this program must have their valid registered mobile numbers with their Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC), she stressed.
The registered buyers will be able to purchase Rashan from the designated kiryana or utility stores on 30 percentsubsidy after issuance of Rashan cards to them.
The list of eligible people for availing this benefit will be displayed within three or four weeks after scrutinizing process with the help of Ehsaas database while the Kiryana stores will be registered meanwhile, she added.
Ehsaas has developed a digitally enabled mobile point of sale system in collaboration with National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) to serve beneficiaries through a network of kiryana stores all over the country.
How to register?
About the procedure, Dr. Sania said that the Kiryana merchants will require downloading the relevant app on their Android phones, entering CNIC numbers of the customers and pass on the benefits after authentication from back end immediately.
The customer will receive a verification code which would be entered by Kiryana merchant in the app.
“Such system has been developed to prevent corruption and abuse”, she said.
Dr Sania hoped that this system will be functional within three to four weeks soon after the completion of registration process.
The kiryana merchants having a valid bank account to receive the subsidy amount from any corner of the country will be eligible to register under this program after physical verification.
Dr Sania said that the government will also give profit to the registered merchants on the subsidy amount to encourage them to serve maximum people.
Eligibility criteria
Sania Nishatr further informed that Ehsaas Rashan Programme will cover 20 million households across Pakistan with a poverty score of less than 39 and an income of Rs 31,000 per month.
The SAPM said that as per our estimate, 60 percent population of Pakistan will be benefited from this program. “The amount can be increased along with introducing more benefits through utilizing this system,” she added.
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She said that Ehsaas has gathered socio-economic data of 38 million households which has made it easier to launch new programs.
To a question, Dr Sania said that small Kiryana stores in rural areas will be encouraged to be a part of this initiative. “An accelerated drive will be launched for the awareness and education of merchants”, she said.
Are govt employees eligible?
She explained that the government employees having less than 31,000 will be eligible to apply for this program while those who travel abroad for job purposes would not be excluded as per the cabinet unanimous decision.
Total subsidy
Dr Sania said that Rs120 billion subsidy is being given under this program. The provincial governments will contribute 65 percent budget while the share of the federal government will be 35 percent.
“Confirmation from Sindh and Balochistan is awaited while other provinces have confirmed,” she added.
Watch Dr. Sania Nishtar’s complete press conference here
