Government's efforts to pull poor out of poverty: Dr Sania Nishtar

ISLAMABAD: Dr Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation on Friday expressed confidence that government's efforts to pull the poor out of poverty towards prosperity, which would be achieved in collaboration with other social safety institutions.

As the present government’s fight against poverty picks pace, Dr Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation said this during a discussions with the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund’s senior team at the latter’s offices to discuss its plan of action in poverty reducing under the government of Pakistan’s flagship "Ehsaas Programme", said a press release.

The Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) is the leading implementing agency for the government’s National Poverty Graduation Initiative (NPGI), launched two weeks earlier by the prime minister, under “Ehsaas Programme; and NPGI is an important component of Pillar II of Ehsaas. The programme aims at providing the vulnerable segments of society with livelihoods and social protection.

The meeting discussed the PPAF’s initiatives and growth over a period of past twenty years, including its mission, vision, and strategic trajectory. PPAF’s values in line with its work towards relief of the poor and the vulnerable, it’s programming network and elements of output, were also discussed.

Dr Sania Nishtar lauded PPAF’s impact in bringing social and economic change to hundreds of thousands of communities across the country and discussed its collaborative efforts with the government in the battle for greater social and economic equality in the country. She said that PPAF was the leading institution in the country that was laying the foundation for stable social safety nets and livelihoods among the poor and vulnerable on a large-scale.

With its work on interest-free loans, PPAF is the lead implementer of the government’s interest-free loans programme under the newly-launched Interest Free Loan Programme, whose financial outlay is Rs5 billion. With the launch of “Ehsaas Interest Free Loans”, PPAF already started disbursing 80,000 loans every month. The “National Poverty Graduation Initiative (NPGI)” will provide relief to the masses through interest-free loans, vocational and skills trainings, and asset transfers. Interest-free loans come with easy and simple eligibility criteria for people to setup their own businesses.

Dr Sania said she was hopeful about the social safety sector’s development. One especially with PPAF’s expertise and work with interest-free loans programme. The interest free loans, worth Rs5 billion, will be called ‘Ehsaas bila sood karzay’.

The Special Assistant also appreciated Management Information system of PPAF that will be available to people to make them informed for taking better decisions as they avail the government’s social safety initiatives. She also expressed confidence that efforts to pull the poorest out of poverty towards prosperity will be achieved in collaboration with other social safety institutions.

Qazi Azmat Isa, PPAF Chief Executive Officer, Captain (Retd) Asadullah Khan, Additional Secretary, Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division (PASSD), Amir Naeem, PPAF’s Senior Group Head, Financial Management and Corporate Affairs and Samia Liaquat Ali Khan, PPAF’s Senior Group Head, Graduation Group and Programme Director, National Poverty Graduation Programme were also present.