Staff Reporter
Now that the Ehsaas strategy is close to be being released this coming week, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation together with Secretary Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division, Shaista Sohail visited 2 provincial capitals over the weekend to brief provinces about Ehsaas plans and to seek their partnership.
“We all have to work together to strengthen the Federation and exploit synergy – irrespective of political differences especially when it comes to the welfare of those who need it the most”, elaborated Dr. Nishtar.
Addressing a session hosted by Governor Sindh and presided over by President Dr. Arif Alvi at the Governor House in Karachi, Dr. Nishtar apprised Sindh Cabinet members and parliamentarians about the government of Pakistan’s flagship programme ‘Ehsaas’.
Nasir Ali Shah, Sindh Cabinet Minister, Mustafa Wahab, advisor to the PM, Waseem Akhtar, Mayor Karachi, and Naheed Shah, Chair of the Planning Development Department of Sindh were present at the meeting. She gave a detailed presentation on Ehsaas. Prominent members of the philanthropic community were also present.
During her presentation, Dr. Nishtar elaborated on what Ehsaas can offer to Sindh, and how it can partner with Government and Non-governmental sector; she invited all public and private representatives from Sindh to work together with Ehsaas programme for the uplifting of people. She stressed that Ehsaas is a nation-wide program.
It offers many things to the provinces—the Ehsaas one window programmes (Kifalat, Tahafuz, National Poverty Graduation Initiative, online free resources) will all be nation-wide. The New Socio Economic Survey currently being carried out of BISP is also country wide. And, the Solutions Innovation Challenge which Ehsaas will be launching for livelihood creation and social protection will also impact the entire country.
On the occasion, Dr. Nishtar outlined areas where collaboration was sought with the provincial government, in particular in the areas of Insaf card, consolidation of online portals in areas of devolved subjects.
She particularly stressed on the need for provinces to implement the Governance and Integrity Policy, and partner in the implementation of Pillar I (governance) and Pillar III (human capital development) of Ehsaas.
Later in the Governor House, Dr. Nishtar held a detailed meeting with members of the press and responded to their questions about Ehsaas programme, clarifying the scale, breadth and diversity of Ehsaas.
