PM Khan announces expansion of Ehsas food charity program to three more cities

(Karachi) Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced to expand Ehsas food program 'Koi Bhoka na Soye' to three more cities of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), local media reported on Sunday.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony virtually in view of the third wave of Covid-19, Imran said that the aim of the program is to facilitate the daily wage earners and poor people and ensure they do not sleep on empty stomachs.

He said that the program is now being expanded to Lahore, Faisalabad, and Peshawar.

He added that cooked meals will be provided twice a day through mobile trucks at designated delivery points to people in need especially those at risk of or experiencing hunger.

He stated that the move aims to protect the poor people from inflation and price hike. “We have identified routes where the trucks will go so that as many people are facilitated,” he said. “The idea is to bring meals on wheels in areas with the highest ratio of poverty.”

The PM remarked that a pilot project was first launched in Islamabad to understand the challenges that the government may face in the implementation of the new scheme.

This is the first time a program like this has been introduced in the country, the PM pointed out.

“We are bringing the concept of universal health insurance in the country through which poor can get medical treatments up to Rs1 million,” he added.

The prime minister urged the public to donate to the program. “The government plans can only be successful when they are supported by the public.”

The premier maintained that the government is providing health insurance to millions of people in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), Punjab, and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B).

Last month, PM Imran launched the ‘Koi Bhuka Na Soye’ program under the umbrella of the Ehsaas poverty alleviation in Islamabad.