Daily Times

It is a fact generally accepted in the world that today only those nations can progress and prosper where there are minimum differences between the haves and have-nots, and the poor have access to basic amenities of life i,e food, clean water, education, health etc.

The current PTI-led government launched “The compassion (Ehsas) programme in March this year with a vision and aim to find ways to minimize the differences between the rich and the poor.

The above programme with all its right intentions and determination wishes to make Pakistan a welfare state, and to make the poor self-sufficient enabling them to face the modern challenges and to live a modern self-complacent life.

The very feeling of compassion has integrated the ” Ehsas Programme” as such as it is.

The programme has its four essential agendas and its policy contains 115 points.

The first and foremost agenda of “compassion programme” is establishment of equality so that people living in rural and the deprived areas may not be influenced by the influential people and affluent class any more. Also to establish the writ of the state. The second agenda of the above mentioned programme is to establish such a safety network so that marginalized segments of the society and the poor people should have easy access to it.

The third agenda is to provide congenial atmosphere for financial and employment opportunities.

The fourth and the foremost to improve human capital. The compassion programme of the prime minister significantly ensures that the masses get themselves financially independent and have access to financial services of the government.

If we cast a glance at the current statistics of the country, almost 66% people living the rural areas of the country don’t have access to financial means and out of that total 66% people, 57% are women. A part from that a large chunk comprises of poor labourers who are exempted from labour laws, those labourers include domestic women and women in the remote villages.

Sad it is but true majority of people living in the country don’t have access or facility of easy banking, and 79% population is deprived of the financial services. There is a dire need to get those people from the morass of penury.

According to the current statistics, 30% of the adults of the country apply to get loans but only 3% out of those 30% manage to get loans properly from financial departments.

Whereas the remaining 27% of the people borrow money/get loans from the influential persons of their respective areas. Eventually, they become immediate prey to those influential people and remain their salves forever.

Almost all departments of the government have been included in the “compassion programme” and it is also being implemented in its letter and spirit with the unflinching cooperation of all departments. In order to target the cherished goals there would be joint team work and collaboration of both federal and provincial leadership.

Social institutions working for the welfare of the people would also be included in the “Ehsas Programme”. Effective governance would be ensured.

There are three social financial aspects of Ehsas Programme.

Provision of financial support and services to all those poor, destitute and paralysed people living in countryside. Provision of services that can largely benefit them.

In order to induct the people into social financial circle some everlasting and reliable steps have been taken to provide cheap financial help and access to all financial sectors. The nature of financial services for the socially and economically backward people include; checks, saving accounts, payable loans, life insurance, and viable suggestions how to invest themselves.

The above mentioned programme ensures access to social security, self-decision making and self-reliance, and fundamentally protects families through provision of check account money. The way to return back the borrowed money would be made easy.The payment to pay back would be made easy. The privacy of the participants would be kept under vigilance.

The Ehsas programme also aims to make women socially and financially independent so that they may be aware of their rights and they may also get themselves rid of social bondage.

Ehsas programme would also relentlessly work for women to make them socially stable in the society and in real sense to collectively work for poverty alleviation.

For that purpose In Ehsas Programme the fixed stipends for women would be sent directly into their respective accounts of the donees (women).But first that particular account of the donee would be registered in Ehsas programme. Only the donee would have access to her stipend. As for as the payment to return is concerned it would be left for the period when they would have prosperous time. All the participants would be apprised of payment of return, its time duration, and others necessary information related to it.

Apart from that how to resolve their financial issues.

They would also be trained how to pay their dues through cellular phone, ATM or through online banking system. Women would be provided safe banking system.

In the current fiscal year for 2019-2020 financial institutions have introduced new and sophisticated method of returning the dues through a system called B.V S.As per that module saving accounts would be opened. Through a mobile application the poor segment of the society would be given loans as per their means on daily basis so that they may balance their every-day income.

That’s the essential ingredient of Ehsas programme but that can be established through safety net information.

For that programme a new technology and data based safety net would be launched/established. Under that programme approximately 500 digital centres would be established through which the poor masses would have access to government assets. Through those digital centres social awareness would be enhanced.

With implementation of new digital system the socially and financially backward strata of society would get access to financial institutions and market also the non-sector relevant labourers would have access to it.

It would be government’s foremost duty to ensure the network to work so effectively to reach even to those non sector labourers and have a mutual financial benefit of all.