City Reporter
Special Assistant to the PM on Poverty Alleviation, Dr Sania Nishtar has announced the launch of the Ehsaas Ration Programme to provide subsidy to the deserving people.
Addressing a news conference, she said a portal will be opened for deserving people for registration on Monday (November 8). She said that registered people will be able to get subsidies on oil/ghee, pulses and flour.
She said people with an income lower than Rs31,000 per month will be entitled to avail the subsidy.
The special assistant said that 35 percent of the budget will be provided by the federal government whereas 65 percent will be the share of provincial governments. She said the government will add more people at the later stage on the availability of fiscal space.
“Realising the difficulties of the common people amid inflation, the Ehsaas Rashan program is being launched after a thorough planning including field testing, proof of concept, piloting and technology measures”, the SAPM said.
She said the programme will benefit 20 million families and overall 130 million people nationwide including those already registered under the Kafalat programme.
The beneficiaries will be identified with the help of the new Ehsaas National Socio Economic Registry (NSER) Survey, she said.
She said the Ehsaas Ration Programme will provide a subsidy of Rs1,000 per month to each of the 20 million families on the purchase of flour, pulses, ghee or cooking oil.
Those who want to benefit from this program must have their valid registered mobile numbers with their Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC), she stressed.
The registered buyers will be able to purchase Ration from the designated utility stores at 30 percent subsidy after issuance of ration cards to them.
The list of eligible people for availing this benefit will be displayed within three or four weeks after the scrutinizing process with the help of Ehsaas database while the Kiryana stores will be registered meanwhile, she said.
About the procedure, Dr Sania conveyed that the utility store owners will require downloading the relevant app on their android phones, enter CNIC numbers of the customers and pass on the benefits after authentication from back end immediately.
The customer will receive a verification code which would be entered by the utility merchant in the app. “Such system has been developed to prevent corruption and abuse”, she said.
