Punjab Social Protection Policy discussed

Punjab Economic Research Institute (PERI) P&D hosted a consultative session on Punjab Social Protection Policy, 2016 at Lahore. Punjab Chairman Higher Education Commission Professor Dr Nizamuddin chaired the session while number of Researchers, Academician, and Policy makers participated in the session. The objective of that session was to take stock of the experiences of participating experts in the development of coherent national social protection framework and to get feedback and recommendations on the draft Punjab Social Protection Policy.
Addressing the session, Professor Dr Nizamuddin Chairman Higher Education Commission Punjab said that social protection policy must adhere marginalized people of the Punjab province which has almost 60% of the population of the country. Informal sector of the economy which is normally not captured needs to be covered. There is need to invest on our young people which form a major proportion of our population. It is hoped that this Policy will contribute to Punjab's progress in achieving the vision of Punjab Growth Strategy 2018 and ensure that Punjab remains steadfast on the path to progress.
Dr Mumtaz Anwar Director PERI welcoming the participants briefed about the session & explained that feedback obtained from this session will be incorporated in the design of Punjab Social Protection Policy so that changes could be made before the final policy is presented to Chief Minister Punjab.
Dr Sohail Anwar Chaudhry CEO, Punjab Social Protection Authority gave the presentation regarding an overview of the background of the social protection policy and highlighted the key issues which demanded a need of a comprehensive social protection policy. He said that they have come up with a draft policy after consulting various international social protection policies of various countries of the region. He broadly stated five objectives of the policy included Equity, Resilience, Opportunity, and Gender Equality & Social Cohesion.
Sabur Ghayur, Chairman, Center for Labour Advocacy and Dialogue (CLAD) Islamabad, mentioned that the tears of this whole policy should work through an integrated approach and minimum should be overlapping of various implementing programs. All the participants actively participated in the session and shared their valuable feedback and suggestions.