Sep 1, 2019, During her visit to Quetta, Dr. Sania Nishtar visited the regional office of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in Quetta and district office in Pishin to oversee the provincial progress and operations of BISP in Balochistan. She also met with the beneficiaries and guided them about the revamped BISP process and reform to make transactions more transparent. She shared that her focus is to build a strong system and to have preventive measures in place so there are no loopholes for corruption and other wrongdoings across safety net programmes. She will be conducting more visits to Balochistan in future. “When we make policies sitting in offices, there is a chance that we’re not getting it right. It adds significance in the policy-making when you go in the field and meet people on your own”, she added.

Sep 1, 2019,  On Sunday evening in Quetta, Dr. Sania Nishtar together with Shaista Sohail, Secretary Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division, paid a visit to Saylani Welfare International Trust in Quetta to explore options to collaborate under ‘Ehsaas’.’ Saylani Langar’ (soup kitchen) that runs thrice daily to feed thousands of poor and distressed is an exemplary engine. They have built transparent and accountable systems for scale. Ehsaas looks forward to exploring avenues of cooperation. Saylani Welfare Trust provides the charity services in areas including food, education, medical and social welfare free of cost to the marginalized people.

Aug 31, 2019, Addressing a session hosted by Governor Sindh and presided over by President Dr. Arif Alvi at the Governor House in Karachi, Dr. Nishtar apprised Sindh Cabinet members and parliamentarians about the government of Pakistan’s flagship programme ‘Ehsaas’. Nasir Ali Shah, Sindh Cabinet Minister, Mustafa Wahab, advisor to the PM, Waseem Akhtar, Mayor Karachi, and Naheed Shah, Chair of the Planning Development Department of Sindh were present at the meeting. She gave a detailed presentation on Ehsaas. Prominent members of the philanthropic community were also present. During her presentation, Dr. Nishtar elaborated on what Ehsaas can offer to Sindh, and how it can partner with Government and Non-governmental sector; she invited all public and private representatives from Sindh to work together with Ehsaas programme for the uplifting of people. She stressed that Ehsaas is a nation-wide program. It offers many things to the provinces—the Ehsaas one window programmes (Kifalat, Tahafuz, National Poverty Graduation Initiative, online free resources) will all be nation-wide. The New Socio Economic Survey currently being carried out of BISP is also country wide. And, the Solutions Innovation Challenge which Ehsaas will be launching for livelihood creation and social protection will also impact the entire country. Later in the Governor House, Dr. Nishtar held a detailed meeting with members of the press and responded to their questions about Ehsaas programme, clarifying the scale, breadth and diversity of Ehsaas.

Aug 31, 2019, Dr. Sania Nishtar together with Secretary Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division, Shaista Sohail visited the Saylani Welfare International Trust, which is a Pakistani charity focusing on social welfare of the poor and distressed. Here, she spent a long time inspecting each of Saylani’s departments. She took keen interest in the food distribution system of Saylani Trust. “We will be discussing ways of opening ‘Joint Langars’, beginning in the city of Islamabad”, said Dr. Nishtar.  Saylani Welfare Trust endeavors to provide the quality services in areas including food, education, medical and social welfare free of cost to the marginalized people. With over 60 different sectors, they primarily feed thousands of hungry people each day, hundreds more are given the hope of life through medical health care, many are educated to become leaders of tomorrow and several are given the opportunity to stand on their feet financially. Their physical presence extends throughout Pakistan with a vast network of 125 branches operating in major cities including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Hyderabad and Faisalabad.

The third Ehsaas Communications Committee meeting took place today at PM Secretariat. Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation chaired the meeting. During the course of meeting, the communications plan for the upcoming Ehsaas strategy was discussed in detail with Secretary PASSD, Secretary MOIB, Additional Secretary PASSD and communications and media representatives from various stakeholders including Press Information Department, Associated Press of Pakistan, Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation, PEMRA, PTV News, ATV, Provincial Social Welfare Department – KP, Provincial Social Welfare Department – Punjab, Benazir Income Support Programme, Pakistan Bait ul Mal and Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund. Ehsaas Communications Committee is due to meet every Wednesday under the leadership of Dr. Nishtar.