Daily Times

The Ehsaas program, which falls under the Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division, officially started last year. This kicked into effect as a lifesaver to the country just as the pandemic hit and cases surged throughout the country. The efficiency of the material purpose of the program was soon to be tested in practical terms as no country was prepared to face for what is felt like the worst of times around the world. Millions around the world have been furloughed or simply laid off work because companies are shutting down. Entire multi corporations are now at the brink of bankruptcy as global lockdowns meant that nobody would be buying or selling in many cases, just saving for uncertain times.

In all of this lay the dilemma of shutting down a developing economy in which a quarter of the population of people are below the poverty level and many of those earning are daily wage earners. Those who if given even a few weeks of lockdown would soon starve to death. One has wondered with great anticipation how a country such as Pakistan would fare during the pandemic. However, the program launched under the current leadership, which was once mocked by naysayers, has actually become sustenance for the masses in the most unexpected of circumstances.

One thing remains true for these tough times: ‘Ehsaas’ has been that one program, which has become the lifeline to millions within Pakistan

The strategy has been run on a multi-tiered program, which uses technology in an emerging economy with the gauge of the wide database collected of its citizens. It is based on precision planning for the needs of the different segments of the economy; something once thought to be impossible in a country such as Pakistan. During the early days of the lockdown, the government had announced an overall relief package for the nation amounting to a total of Pak Rupee 1.25 trillion.

Launched on March 27 2019, the Ehsaas program is one of the first of its kind that approaches poverty reduction using different methods based on identified economic levels in order to provide tiered solutions. Four main pillars on which it rests upon are namely 1) working to create equality 2) provide safety nets for the disadvantaged segments of the country’s population 3) creating jobs and livelihoods and 4) investing in people. It embodies 134 policy actions, which are expanded upon. Interestingly enough is the fact that the PM known for his forward-thinking approach chose a woman, Dr Sania Nishtar (Special Assistant on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety to the Prime Minister of Pakistan), to head one of the largest welfare programs for the entire country. Her portfolio is exceedingly diverse as one of the country’s leading top professionals and experts on the field.

Dr Nishtar is also a recipient of the Sitar-e-Imtiaz (the third-highest honour and national award given to a civilian for service to the country). Her appointments include being on boards and having worked with International organizations such as WHO, World Economic Forum and the United Nations, amongst many others. In 2017, Dr Nishtar was nominated as a leading candidate for Director-General of WHO (World Health Organisation). She is the founder of Heartfile (1998), an Islamabad-based health policy think tank. With a portfolio full of accolades, Dr Nishtar has certainly proven her grit during these tough times. Her daily updates to the nation have been detailing specific work in the different areas of the program. The efficiency with which the program has been launched and executed under a transparent mechanism is an indication of her expertise, previous experience and precision planning where she has certainly been proven to be the right person for the job!

The Ehsaas program aims to improve living conditions by uplifting certain districts of the country through the creation of a ‘welfare state’. The process is leveraging 21st-century tools – using data and technology to create financial and economic safety nets which would safeguard the people. In doing so, they are also promoting financial inclusion and ease of access to digital services. The program has also shown its undue support for uplifting the economic empowerment of women by having catered programs within it that focused on gender uplift. It has been focusing on the central role for poverty eradication, economic growth and sustainable development; overcoming many financial barriers to accessing health as well keeping in mind post-secondary education.

The Ehsaas program caters towards the ‘extremely poor’, which include the orphans, widows, the homeless, the disabled and those who risk medical impoverishment. It provides for the jobless, poor farmers, labourers, for the sick and undernourished; for students from low-income backgrounds and for poor women as well as elderly citizens. The program includes people from all communities including Christians, Muslims and Hindus. All citizens in the nation have been taken into account, men, women and even transgenders who have also been incorporated as a separate group to be included in the distribution process.

In 2019, Lord Nigel Crisp, former Chief Executive of the National Health Service, UK, while writing for the Daily Telegraph, said that “Ehsaas is one of the most comprehensive welfare programmes undertaken by a national government, with an underlying ambition to create a social safety net for Pakistan that could transform the lives of millions. It is enormously wide-ranging and ambitious”. However, the real success of this program has been seen in times of utter distress for the people: the COVID-19 global pandemic crisis. This has included food ration distributions as well as the Emergency Cash distribution program all under the umbrella of Ehsaas. Ensuring COVID-19 precautions during distribution and the authenticity of the data compiled could not have been easy to orchestrate. The Ehsaas program has already been noted to distribute relief and assistance to more than 7 million people in Pakistan.

Interestingly enough ‘Ehsaas’ translates roughly to the word ‘Empathy’ (to feel/ to realize) in English and it has certainly proved true to its name. With such intensive programs for the sake of the betterment of the people being developed and implemented, Pakistan is now being fast recognized as a welfare state by the global community. As COVID-19 races throughout the world, the program which has come in to safeguard the nation, we have yet to see the maturity of how it develops further and how effective it will be by the end of the year. However, one thing remains true for these tough times, ‘Ehsaas’ has been that one program which has become the lifeline to millions within Pakistan.

The writer is known for her articles on socio-cultural impact