Make Ehsaas Payments Safe

FEDERAL government needs to be commended for showing special empathy and compassion for the people facing financial problems due to Coronavirus. It was with the same intent that it launched Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program under which cash assistance of Rs 12000 has started reaching the poor and deserving households. Indeed it is the responsibility of the state to protect the weak and vulnerable segments of society when hit with such an unprecedented challenge. And the way Special Assistant on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection Sania Nishtar came up with a foolproof mechanism to ensure that the relief amount only goes to the deserving families is really appreciable. Nobody can raise any question mark on the transparency of the Emergency Cash Program as the eligible families were selected after a detailed scrutiny of the data available with NADRA but the kind of chaotic situation that was seen at the distribution points needs to be addressed immediately in order to avoid the spread of the virus and protect the dignity of the people during the relief provision process. One woman has reportedly died and many others injured during hustle and bustle at these points. This is really unfortunate and the government must make the payment process more smooth and hassle free. It must consider increasing the total number of cash payment points ensuring that the people get payments without any difficulty or the risk of attracting the contagion. The Pakistan Post has a huge network across the country and most recently it started the service of paying pensions to its own pensioners and those of the military at their doorsteps. We will suggest that Sania Nishtar should sit with the Minister for Communications Murad Saeed and consider this option of paying the relief assistance to the deserving families at their homes. If not all, but half of the areas can be covered through this method for the convenience of the deserving families and to avoid the risk of spread of the highly contagious virus. This will also help ensure acceleration of the payment process which indeed needs to be completed at the earliest given the financial woes of the poor families. We are sure that the government officials will put in all their efforts to make the program a complete success story and an example for the world. We will also appeal the people to generously donate to the P rime Minister ’s relief fund enabling the government to disburse more funds to the deserving families.