ISLAMABAD – Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Sania Nishtar who leads the Ehsaas programme said on Friday that government had increased the stipend from 5000 to 5500 to facilitate the needy and deserving women across the country.
Talking to a private news channel she declared that a bank account would be mandatory for the beneficiaries to receive the stipend, as well as the government, had planned to provide the soft loans to start the business.
She said the Ehsaas program would facilitate unprivileged only as the previous governments had wasted 16 billion while providing the amount to those who were not in the least deserving to be part of Benazir Income Support Program(BISP) as many of them held property and travelled abroad.
“With the help of NADRA the Ehsaas program has found out the information of the applicants and excluded all who have been just benefiting by BIPS though they are not living life under the poverty line,” she mentioned.
Ten years ago the people were included to receive stipend without proper verification and nobody followed up to check whether they needed stipend anymore or not as many of the recipients got economically well off later, she said.
“Board committees are very actively participating and members come with conflict ideas to improve the condition of the poor segment of the society as Ehsaas team pays surprise visits to the utility stores and shelter homes, it is very crucial for the head of Ehsaas program to keep an eye on the ground realities,” she emphasized.
