Ehsaas programme amongst PM’s many deceptions: Bilawal

ISLAMABAD: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said Prime Minister Imran Khan changing Benazir Income Support Programme to Ehsaas Programme and presenting it as his own is amongst the many deceptions the premier has committed.

“This government lack of direction, as is evidenced by its constant U-turns on all matters of national importance, is an apt reflection of the lack of vision of prime minister himself,” Bilawal said in a statement Tuesday. He said the PPP govt launched BISP to alleviate poverty and provide aid to the poor at a time when the world faced the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. He said the PPP then implemented the programme to provide the needy with financial assistance. “The past two and half years of this government have shown that selected PM lacks the vision or the ideology to launch a project so big that it attributes to reducing Pakistan’s poverty levels,” he added. He said the ongoing Ehsaas Kafaalat Programme is originally the BISP, and the prime minister has exposed himself to the people. “This government’s petty attempts to erase the legacy of country’s first female prime minister would always fail, as Shaheed Benazir Bhutto is synonymous with the welfare of the poor,” he further added.

He said it does not matter how the puppet prime minister tries and change the name to erase the name of Benazir Bhutto, she lives in the hearts of the people and they will always see through these petty and regressive steps. Bilawal said the PPP implemented the social welfare programme under the title of BISP, and the project is recognised and admired by international institutions as a unique and progressive way of addressing extreme poverty and the need for women empowerment.

Today, he said the PTI-led federal government is shamelessly trumpeting the drums of pioneering the Ehsaas Kafaalat Programme despite previously confessing before the country’s top court that the BISP’s title has been amended to the Ehsaas Kifaalat Programme. “The PTI-led federal government is deceiving the people,” he remarked. The PPP chairman said Imran Khan is the most incapable and incompetent prime minister in country’s history. All he can do is rename projects and put up new plaques on old projects initiated by Benazir Bhutto. “No matter what the selected prime minister does, he can never erase the love and respect people have for Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. In contrast, the only legacy Imran Khan will leave behind is one of economic turmoil, unemployment, and poverty,” he added.

Referring to the people-friendly, social welfare projects in Sindh by the PPP-led government, Bilawal said though the PTI has exposed the people to economic ruin, the Sindh government is doing its best to stem the tide of destruction and protect the most vulnerable.