Over 3m people to get Ehsaas cash handouts as ECC okays Rs29.72b grant

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the federal cabinet today approved Rs 29.72 billion to provide cash handouts of Rs 12,000 each to 3.725 million applicants under the Ehsas Emergency Cash Programme.

A meeting of the ECC chaired by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr. Abdu Hafeez Shaikh allowed the BISP to spend Rs 29.72 billion from its allocated budget of Rs 200 billion for 2020-21.

The decision came after the Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division told the ECC that 3.151 million applicants who had applied for assistance through SMS were found eligible under the approved criteria but these applicants could not be provided assistance on account of provincial/district quotas.

The ECC was told that the Punjab government had already agreed to provide assistance to 700,000 of the applicants identified through SMS, leaving 2.451 million eligible applicants who could be provided cash assistance Rs12,000 (Rs 3000 for four months) at a total cost of Rs 29.72 billion.

During the meeting, the ECC also took up a proposal for policy guidelines with respect to sale price of RLNG.

The ECC also discussed the issue of quarterly adjustments of K-Electric Limited for the period from July 2016 to March 2019 and affirmed its previous decision of March, 26 2020 whereby recommendations of a Committee constituted by ECC in its meeting on March 4, 2020 to settle the issue of quarterly adjustments were approved with the instruction that the same would be effective after three months.