MoU inked for food subsidy programme

PESHAWAR: To provide relief to low-income households, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to launch the Insaf Food Card scheme under which net cash would be provided to those people having income less than Rs 25,000 per month for purchasing essential food items.

Under the scheme, initially, one million deserving households would be provided Rs 2,100 per month which would cost Rs 25 billion annually. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Wednesday to this end between the provincial Food Department and the Bank of Khyber (BOK), said a handout.

Chief Minister Mahmood Khan as chief guest was the chief guest on the occasion. Besides provincial cabinet members Atif Khan, Shakeel Khan, Fazal Shakoor, Malik Shah Muhammad Wazir, Taj Muhammad Tarand, Mian Khaliq-Ur-Rahman, Riaz Khan, Arif Ahmadzai, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, officials of the Food Department and the Bank of Khyber attended the ceremony.

As per the MoU, the Bank of Khyber will open accounts for eligible households and they would be provided specifically designed Insaf Food Cards. In the areas where BOK branches are not available, the amount would be transferred through mobile companies to the wallet accounts of deserving people.

Talking on the occasion, the chief minister said after the Sehat Card Plus Scheme, Food Card was another historic and pro-poor project of the Pakistan Teheek-e-Insaf government through which the provincial government has fulfilled another commitment made to the people.

He said that under the scheme, initially financial support would be extended to one million households with low income in the province at a cost of Rs 25 billion annually. The chief minister said the scheme would be initiated formally by the first of July this year.

He termed the food card scheme as of vital importance to support the vulnerable segments of the society and assured that his government would utilize all available resources to give relief to the deserving people.