To address malnutrition in children: Shazia announces plan to establish Nashonuma centres

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Shazia Marri on Monday announced to establish the Nashonuma centers in all the districts of the country to address the issue of malnutrition in the children of deserving families.

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, she said Rs21 billion have been earmarked for this project in the annual budget 2022-23, adding that currently, there are 50 centers in the country.

The minister said Rs364 billion have been allocated for the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), increasing it to 45.6 percent as compared to the last year.She said 10,000 additional scholarships would be given this year under the Ehsaas scholarships to the deserving students.

Shazia Marri said currently, the children, whose parents have income amounting to Rs40,000 or less per month, are getting this scholarship, but we have proposed that the income slab for this scholarship should be increased to Rs80,000 keeping in view the inflation and economic woes.

She said a dynamic registry of the BISP will also be prepared that will update all the data and information of the BISP beneficiaries.She said 0.5 million more people from Balochistan will be included in the BISP, which will help cover 65 percent to 70 percent of the province’s population.

Meanwhile, turning her guns on PTI Chairman Imran Khan, she said the former prime minister only loved to have the power and did nothing for the masses and the country during his four-year rule.