SOON after the breakout of Covid-19, the Government’s Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program (EECP) provided immediate relief in the form of cash assistance of Rs 12000 to the vulnerable and disadvantaged segments of the society. In fact it was the first time that a huge amount of Rs 150 billion was disbursed in a matter of a few months and that too in the most transparent manner.
Since the effects of the pandemic are still felt by the poor people especially the workers and labourers, continuation of the program is need of the hour. In this regard, the Federal Cabinet on Tuesday took an important decision of launching the second phase of EECP in order to provide financial assistance to the deserving families. Prime Minister Imran Khan has always spoken about the plight of poor families and this latest announcement is yet another manifestation of how much he feels for them. It will also be unfair not to recognize the work put in by Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation, for making the first phase of EECP a complete success story. The way she created awareness amongst the poor families by using the platform of state media especially Radio Pakistan as to how they can become part of the cash assistance program is really commendable. Though the government has got the data of deserving families collected through SMS service before the launch of first phase of EECP, yet there will be families who would not have been able to benefit from the program in the first phase. Therefore, the government must evolve a mechanism and use the services of Tiger Force to accommodate them in the second phase. The focus must be reaching out to the maximum number of deserving families. Secondly, rush at the disbursement centres must be avoided since the threat of Covid-19 is not over. In the first phase, one had seen the hustle and bustle at these centres. We will suggest that the cash assistance should be provided to the deserving families at their doorsteps by using the services of Pakistan Post which has a huge network and has presence even in the rural areas.
