PM to launch Qarz-e-Hasna, asset transfer schemes next month

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan will launch the Ehsas Qarz-e-Hasna and Asset Transfer schemes next month to disburse loans to 84,431 youth each month, enabling them to start businesses and help pull their families out of the poverty trap.

The decision was taken during a briefing by Dr Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the PM on Social Safety Nets and Poverty Alleviation (PASS), on the status of implementation of the Ehsas programme. Imran also approved creation of the Ehsas Steering Committee during the meeting.

The Ehsas Steering Committee would be headed by the prime minister himself. Dr Sania Nishtar said the policies concerning various components of Ehsas Programme would be presented before the cabinet after June for its approval. The prime minister appreciated the progress being made by Dr Sania and her team. It was also decided during the meeting that a session of the implementers of Ehsas Programme at federal and provincial level will be convened soon to chalk out strategy to roll-out and smooth implementation of Ehsas Programme components. “We aim to turn Pakistan into a welfare state based on the model of Riyasat-e-Medina that takes full ownership of the needs of its poor and vulnerable,” said the prime minister. The premier has already injected an additional amount of Rs5 billion to the existing fund so the scheme is launched in collaboration with the existing partners of Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund. He will also launch in June the Asset Transfer Scheme under the umbrella of Ehsas Programme.

Under the asset transfer, people will have option of transferring many things. It is mostly in kind. It includes livestock (e.g. goat and chicken), agriculture tools and supplies. It could be a sewing machine or material to support local crafts. An asset may also be a small shop. Asset could also be cash to help start a small business. “Assets” under this scheme will be given one time and are not expected to be returned.

As for the loans, these would be prioritised in the underdeveloped districts. Appreciating the efficacy of the existing programme, the prime minister approved injection of an additional amount of Rs5 billion to the existing fund so the programme is launched in collaboration of the existing partners of Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF). Ehsas is a comprehensive and multifaceted programme with 115 policies under four pillars. These include addressing elite capture and making the government system work to create equality; safety nets for disadvantaged segments of the population; jobs and livelihoods; and human capital development. Ehsas is an inter-sectoral programme to be implemented by 26 federal agencies, four provinces and special areas. Dr Sania briefed the prime minister about the timelines to implement those Ehsas projects and policies for which the division of poverty alleviation and social safety and its attached departments have responsibility. The timeline of implementation of the Kafalat Programme and the manner in which financial and digital inclusion of women will be enabled by October this year and the transformative changes in the BISP cash transfer system are currently underway.

She also gave details about the demand-side shock-oriented safety net, Tahaffuz, under which certain windows are expected to be deployed by July 2019. In addition, details and timelines of the graduation and interest-free loans programme and the new Solutions Challenge Policy for the underdeveloped districts were also discussed. Sania also briefed the prime minister about a nutrition initiative to address malnutrition in all its forms, the new socio-economic registry which is being executed by the BISP, the Ehsas undergraduate student scholarship initiative and plans in the pipeline to extend the education conditional cash transfers for the underdeveloped districts.

Sania informed the prime minister that in order to protect and ensure social security net to workers in the informal sector, several weekly meetings of the labour expert working group were held. Briefing was given on the timeline of policy formulation.

The prime minister was also briefed about the governance reforms in safety nets institutions, including BISP, to ensure maximum transparency and efficiency.