Prime Minister Imran Khan has launched the Ehsaas Saving Wallets (Ehsaas Bachat Bank Account) project in Islamabad. After the World Bank recently recognized the Ehsaas initiative as the fourth biggest social security intervention internationally in terms of the number of citizens protected during the COVID-19 pandemic, the PM Khan congratulated Dr. Sania Nishtar and her entire Ehsaas team in his speech.
“We know that during the coronavirus pandemic the poorest were the hardest hit. Millions of people have fallen below the poverty line in the past year due to the lockdown imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, which leads to economic shutdown affecting the livelihoods of daily wagers the most,” he said.
PM Khan said that the Ehsaas saving wallet programme, which was unveiled today, is of key importance. “The initiative is important because of two reasons, firstly, it is known that if more people enter into a country’s banking system the poverty level decline. Secondly, empowering women through financial inclusion i.e. bringing them into the financial system accelerates the rate of reduction of poverty in a country,” said PM Khan, while sharing details of similar steps taken by other countries including Niger, Kenya, Bangladesh etc.
No nation will attain excellence, he claims, until its oppressed populations are motivated.
Dr. Sania Nishtar, the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Poverty Alleviation, advised him on the Ehsaas Saving Wallets.
Nishtar said in her remarks that the social safety net would be extended further and that a single-window facility would be established at the Tehsil level to bring all Ehsaas services under one roof.
She said that Islamabad would soon have its first one-window facility.
According to the data, the Ehsaas Saving Wallets (ESWs) project, which is part of the Ehsaas Strategy, is based on the belief that digital and financial inclusion would allow women to properly take advantage of the Ehsaas National Poverty Graduation Initiative’s opportunities.
ESWs are also an important part of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Ehsaas Financial Inclusion Strategy, which was unveiled in the presence of H.E. Queen Maxima of the Netherlands during her visit to Pakistan in November 2019.
The saving wallets programme is a move forward for Kafaalat households in their efforts to help handle financial shocks, satisfy immediate requirements, and save in order to raise their earnings and lift themselves out of poverty. The goal of this initiative is to inspire people to save money, which has been proven to help people get out of poverty.
The Ehsaas Bachat account is intended to broaden financial inclusion efforts begun under the “One Woman, One Bank Account Policy.”
The accounts will also provide savings on deposits.
The Bachat bank account is designed to be simple in the following ways: the accounts are targeted to Kafaalat beneficiaries; beneficiaries will open these accounts at agent shops or ATMs; and initial transactions through these accounts would include balance inquiry, cash in and cash out, transfer funds received from Ehsaas to mobile accounts, mobile top-up, utility bill payments, and money transfers et cetera.
Beneficiaries of Ehsaas Kafaalat would be able to withdraw money or save it in digital wallets as a result of the initiative. Ehsaas Savings Wallets, according to the government, would assist vulnerable citizens in planning for anything from long-term aspirations to sudden emergencies.
