THE government is all set to launch Kamyab Pakistan Programme this month to uplift about four million poor households through provision of interest free loans of up to five hundred thousand rupees for businesses and agriculture services.
Under the programme, these families will be made part of low cost housing schemes and also provided with health cards and technical training.
Chairing a meeting on Saturday, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said that during the current fiscal year alone, approximately Rs 300b to 400b interest free loans would be given.
Never before such a big amount has been earmarked for interest free loans and if executed with transparency and fairness, this mega initiative, in our view, will bring a positive change in the society.
Since poverty survey has almost been completed, we understand, there should be no difficulty for government to reach the most deserving.
The way Ehsaas cash emergency programme was implemented successfully in the wake of Covid-19 to provide immediate cash assistance to vulnerable groups, same kind of urgency and commitment needs to be shown in this programme as well to achieve the goal of helping the poor to stand on their own feet.
As is also suggested by its nomenclature, success of this programme will be the success of Pakistan, as it will set the course for poverty alleviation.
There may be some hiccups, as most of the people are not inclined to start their own businesses.
Here, PTI may use services of its volunteer force to motivate and properly guide these families as to how best they can utilise interest free loans for income generation.
Given its importance, we will also suggest Mr Khan to personally monitor progress of this initiative on regular basis.
Simultaneously, government must also ensure fast track execution of development schemes for which Rs 900 billion have been allocated under the PSDP.
The economic activity to be generated by this will also contribute to increasing purchasing power of the people and reduce the impact of price hike.
