Govt, academia and private sector join hands to provide new opportunities for livelihoods
Zubair Qureshi
In a first of its kind collaboration among the government, academia and the private sector, 150 street vendors of Islamabad were given vending licenses and eco-friendly push carts under Ehsaas Rehribaan programme.
The licences were distributed during the Ehsaas Rehribaan Conference themed “Transformation of Street Vending in Islamabad and Lessons for Urban Pakistan.”
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Senator Dr Sania Nishtar was the Chief Guest on the occasion.
In her remarks, she appreciated the government, the academia and the private sector for structuring a sustainable intervention for providing an enabling environment to the street vendors, beginning with Islamabad’s vendors.
She distributed vending licenses, issued by the Directorate of Municipal Services among the street vendors under Prime Minister’s Ehsaas Rehribaan initiative.
The purpose of the conference was to highlight the transformation of street vending in Islamabad under the ongoing Ehsaas Rehribaan initiative and its lessons for replication in urban Pakistan. High number of officials and representatives from municipality, government agencies, academia, microfinance banks and civil society also attended.
“This initiative has been taken under the direct policy directives of the Prime Minister”, said Dr Sania.
She also recognized the fact that the initiative created opportunities for livelihoods and contributed to climate change efforts through solar system-fitted carts.Dr. Nadeem-ul-Haque, Vice Chancellor, PIDE, elaborated on the potential of the street economy for furthering job generation and economic growth.
He mentioned that street vendors are an integral part of the society and economy, who need to be embraced by the government.
Hamza Shafqat, Administrator MCI and Deputy Commissioner, Islamabad, assured the street vendors that the local government is gearing itself to support the expansion of the initiative for its expeditious coverage of street vendors..
