The registration of poor families whose monthly income is less than Rs31,000 has begun today under the Ehsaas Rashan Programme. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection Dr Sania Nishtar, giving details of the programme, said that the eligible families will be able to obtain items of daily use like flour, oil, sugar and pulses at subsidised rates from Utility Stores and retail stores (kiryana shops). Small retail stores opened even in streets and localities will also provide this facility if they are registered and authorised for this system.
Registration process:
The National Socio Economic Registry (NSER) survey of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) has been completed. A database of 27 million households was originally developed during a nationwide survey under the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government in 2010-11.
Another survey will be used to identify deserving families for this new pro-poor programme. It will take three or four weeks to complete the process of registration. The beneficiaries will need a mobile phone number registered on their Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC), which will be produced before the specific stores from which purchases on subsidised rates will be sought.
How will it work?
The kiryana merchants will require downloading the relevant app on their Android phones, entering CNIC numbers of the customers and pass on the benefits after authentication from the back-end immediately.
The customer will receive a verification code, which would be entered by the kiryana merchant in the app.
Eligibility Criteria:
20 million households across Pakistan with a poverty score of less than 39 and an income of Rs 31,000 per month.
