ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Dr Sania Nishtar on Sunday announced that the government would launch a new survey for the precise identification of poor people under the Ehsaas Programme within the next few months.
“Data of the deserving households would be collected across the country through a computerised digital system,” she said while talking to PTV, adding that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan had directed to launch the survey so that no deserving citizen left out from the social welfare net.
The SAPM said the government would soon set up one-window operation centres in major cities to assist beneficiaries of the Ehsaas Programme, besides reducing the chances of duplication. “The initiative would create awareness, integrate the delivery of services under the Ehsaas umbrella, ensure transparency and improve government-to-citizen service delivery,” she said, adding that opening biometric ATMs and bank branches for the beneficiaries was also a major feature of the new Ehsaas digital payment system.
In reply to a question, she said that the programme was strictly monitored to ensure that funds reach deserving persons, which was all the more important in the wake of the emergency situation developed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
SAPM Dr Sania also announced that the government planned to open the first Ehsaas Physical Centre in Islamabad within a year. “Helping the needy segments of society was a priority agenda of the current government,” she concluded.
