Ehsaas Nashonuma programme disburses Rs114m among beneficiaries

Islamabad:A total amount of Rs114 million has been disbursed among the beneficiaries under the ‘Ehsaas Nashonuma’ Conditional Cash Transfer Programme during the Financial Year 2020-21. According to an official source, a total amount of Rs113,939,500 has been disbursed among the beneficiaries during the period.

A total of 44,390 payments have been made to the mothers while 36,675 mothers have been benefited through this initiative, the source revealed. The ‘Ehsaas Nashonuma’ is a health and nutrition conditional cash transfer programme, which aims at addressing stunting in children under 23 months of age.

Around 40 per cent children in Pakistan suffered from stunting due to malnutrition and other reasons which deprived them of their natural height and mental capacity. The ‘Nashonuma’ programme, which included cash stipends, vaccinations, nutritional food packs and health related training courses for pregnant and lactating mothers, is aimed at controlling stunted growth in children.

The pregnant and lactating mothers as well as their weak children registered with this programme through ‘Nashonuma’ centres established at various districts across the country are provided supplementary food packets.

The staff at the centres also checks weight, height and health of the mothers and children in a detailed check-up to check if they face stunting issue or not. The ratio of quarterly stipends of the girl child had been kept higher than the boys under the ‘Nashonuma’ programme. The programme had made it mandatory for the women beneficiaries to participate in the awareness sessions which are organized exclusively in regional languages.