A cheque distribution ceremony of the Interest-Free Loans Programme under the Ehsaas initiative of Poverty Alleviation & Social Safety Division (PASSD) of the government of Pakistan was organised on September 20, 2019 by Rural Community Development Programme (RCDP), a partner organisation of the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF). In the ceremony 49 beneficiaries, including 27 females were given cheques of interest free loans worth Rs 1.7 million. PPAF is disbursing interest free loans through RCDP in four union councils of district Nankana Sahib where it had provided 37,000 loans worth Rs 881 million so far. PPAF Programmes Head Simi Kamal was the chief guest at the occasion. RCDP CEO Ghulam Murtaza Khokhar lauded the efforts of the Pakistan government for initiating the Ehsaas Programme for empowering the ultra poor through provision of interest free loans. She informed that RCDP has disbursed interest free loans to 2,700 Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) beneficiaries and graduated 1,300 Interest Free Loan (IFL) borrowers to a regular microfinance programme. PPAF is implanting an IFL programme in more than 100 districts through 24 partner organisations across the country, said Simi Kamal while speaking on the occasion. PASSD has approved Rs 5 Billion as an additional funding in the current financial year to upscale this programme to other districts of Pakistan. Under this programme 80,000 interest free loans are being provided each month. Through this programme, the poorest households will be graduated from poverty. Simi Kamal encouraged the IFL borrowers, especially women to use these loans for their businesses progressively, so they could contribute to the local economy in a more positive and meaningful manner.