Daily Times

President Arif Alvi on Wednesday appreciated the Ehsaas programme and its components including NSER, Tahafuz and Kafalat during a visit to BISP Headquarters.

He stated that these initiatives have been holistically designed and are fully aligned with the agenda for change through poverty alleviation as envisaged by the government. President was given a detailed briefing on the programme and its components.

President was apprised of different interventions being made for the benefit of BISP beneficiaries. It was informed that the payment mechanism for BISP beneficiaries has been significantly transformed over the years and the approach of BVS based payments has been adopted in 90% areas in coordination with banks, NADRA and telecom companies.

Chairperson BISP and Minister for Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Dr. Sania Nishtar briefed the President about the overall Ehsaas Programme, its policies and strategy design. She stated that the Ehsaas programme has 115 policy pillars which will be executed through a multidimensional approach. It was further shared that a total of 28 agencies are involved in its implementation. The President was also briefed on Ehsaas Governance and Integrity Policy.

Secretary BISP Ali Raza Bhutta shared the information on activities of BISP. The President was apprised of different activities of BISP including National Socio Economic Registry, Unconditional Cash Transfers & New Payment System and the Conditional Cash Transfers.

The methodology of Poverty Score Card was shared which includes survey of each household at doorstep, a scientifically designed questionnaire administered through Computer Application (43 variables), an asset and consumption data of the household (Proxy Means Test) and the scores calculation for each household (0 to 100). It was further shared that the survey quality is ensured via End to end digital operation, GIS/System/Algorithm based monitoring, Third party validation of survey and Validation of identity information by NADRA. It was shared that the exercise will provide a clear socioeconomic database of the entire population with poverty scores.

It was further shared that new initiatives are being introduced which include Grievance Redress & Appeals Process, Validating & Cross validating results as well as establishing a National Data Exchange Portal.

The President was also briefed on the new payment model of BISP. He was informed that BVS Points of Sale, BVS ATMs, BVS Enabled branches & Special arrangements such as Campsites, Cash on wheels etc were being made. Further, it was shared that Partnerships between different financial Institutions (FIs) is also being explored to facilitate beneficiaries.

It was informed that Savings Account linked Limited Mandate Account with a choice to either withdraw cash in full or push some money in her savings account is being introduced. Moreover, the Savings Account is being linked to verified SIM in the name of the beneficiary.