April 12, 2020- Islamabad: Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation briefed the media about on-the ground progress of the Ehsaas Emergency Cash payments. “It has been 4 days, since Ehsaas started one-off cash distribution of Rs. 12,000 each to the low-income households in all provinces of Pakistan including GB and AJK. As of April 12, 2020, Rs. 21.28 billion has been disbursed to 1.77 million individuals. Currently, as many as 8,995 cash payment points have been deployed out of 17,000 cash payment points to be opened countrywide to reach out to 12 million needy households”, she said. Ehsaas Emergency Cash program is the largest ever social protection and relief operation in the history of Pakistan aimed to help alleviate sufferings of low-income households, who have been distressed by the coronavirus shut down across the country. The government has deployed biometric technology along with other COVID-19 precautionary measures, to ensure the safe and transparent delivery of emergency cash to poverty-stricken families.
