Govt serious about alleviating poverty, says NA speaker

CHAKWAL: National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser said on Sunday the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is serious about alleviating sufferings of the poor people reeling under abject poverty.

The speaker in a statement said Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced a programme for poverty eradication in the country.

He said his association with the prime minister dated back to the time when he had not entered politics, adding that they ran fundraising campaigns for the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital together.

Qaiser said the country faces challenges at present but its future is bright. He hoped the government would turn Pakistan into a country that every Pakistani will feel proud of.

The NA speaker said the government succeeded on various occasions on diplomatic front.

Addressing the launch ceremony of ‘Ehsas’ programme for poverty alleviation in Islamabad on March 27, PM Imran Khan had said the government would open saving accounts for 5.7 million women along with the provision of mobile phones to them.

He said the government was also increasing its spending by Rs 80 billion in underdeveloped areas. “This will increase incrementally and in the next phase, it will be brought to Rs. 120 billion rupees.”

He said that the government was collecting data of the downtrodden from the whole country and said the database of all those institutions working for the welfare of the poor would be compiled and updated by December this year.