We have evolved dynamic digital social protection ecosystem 

ISLAMABAD   -  Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection Dr Sania Nishtar on Friday said the government had allocated Rs 260 billion for ‘Ehsaas Program’ in Budget 2021-22 for poverty alleviation and provide relief to the low income people in the society.

Major focus of the government is to execute the “Ehasaas Program’ in its true spirit for 14 different categories for low income people, including widows, orphans, poors, unemployed, needy students and special citizens in society, Dr Sania Nishtar said this while addressing the Senate Session in Parliament House.

SAPM on Poverty Alleviation said that “We have evolved the dynamic digital social protection ecosystem for the future to ensure transparency and accountability in our program.

She said a comprehensive survey was completed through big data analytics by tracking real-time information about the evolution of the beneficiary status, to make social protection adaptive.

Dr Sania Nishtar said after evolving the modern digital data system, around 800,000 beneficiaries of “Ehsaas Program’ registered in the previous government were disqualified from the program.

She said that “We have introduced digitalization and Information Technology (IT) reforms in our system for enhancing the efficiency of the system.

She said that through ‘ ‘Ehsaas Kafalat Program’  “We are providing this financial facility in 124 districts to the low income people in different regions of the country.

The SAPM said that the ‘Ehsaas under Graduate ‘programme also approved to provide thousands of Ehsaas undergraduate scholarships for students from different regions of the country in the upcoming Budget 2021-22.

She said that during COVID -19 the government has provided relief of Rs 179 billions to 15 million people from different regions of the country.

Dr Sania Nishtar said that women empowerment is top priority for the government in the coming Budget 2021-22 and allocated 50 percent total resources for women to provide them health and education facilities.

He announced that in January 2022 in the coming Budget, the government has decided to increase the stipend for ‘Ehsaas Program’ from Rs 12000 to 13000.

While briefed to the forum, she also hailed the tax relief provided by the government in the coming budget and said the government has waved off the tax on industrial raw material to minimize the cost of doing business in the country.

The government has also decided to introduce tax reforms and automation in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) for enhancing the efficiency in the tax system and expanding the tax net in the country.

He said revenue generation is important for financial inclusion to support the low income people in the society.