ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan is likely to visit a local Kiryana/Utility store in Islamabad to inaugurate the roll out of Ehsaas Rashan Riayat for low-income families on February 19 (Saturday). The country’s first ever targeted commodity subsidies programme is in line with the PM’s vision to provide relief to masses and to target government subsidies. At the retail outlet, PM will witness the digitally enabled Ehsaas Rashan Riayat disbursal to eligible families. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection, Senator Dr. Sania Nishtar will brief him on the salient features of end-to-end digitized programme, which is the first of its kind worldwide. Although the recent inflation is driven by rising prices in the international market; however, this still puts pressure on low-income households. Ehsaas Rashan Riayat will effectively lower the price by 30 percent for three essential commodities—wheat flour, cooking oil/ghee and pulses. The programme will disburse Rs. 106 billion in subsidies to 20 million eligible families over this year; 130 million people which is 53 of the country’s population is expected to benefit. “Ehsaas Rashan Riayat is a one-of-a-kind programme using technology for easy sign up for beneficiaries via SMS; effective targeting using first ever dynamic and nationwide Ehsaas’ survey registry; and financial inclusion promoted with all participating Kiryana agents provided with bank accounts, 8% tax free commission for Kiryana retailers, and real-time payments”, Dr. Sania said in a press statement. So far, 19.5 million potential beneficiaries have been registered and are currently being verified whereas 0.52 million beneficiaries already informed of their eligibility. On the other hand, 117,000 plus Kiryana retailers have also been registered and are currently being verified; and around 2,300 retailers are ready to disburse the subsidy. National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) has been mandated to execute this programme. The commodity subsidy will be disbursed through a network of government run Utility Stores as well as NBP enabled Kiryana stores. Ehsaas and NBP have developed a mobile point of sale application that enables processing of Rashan subsidies against the Computerised National Identity Card number of a beneficiary through a real-time verification process. Provincial Governments of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir are participating in the programme. The federal government and all participating federating units are sharing budget in the proportion of 35/65. In other federating units, federal share of Rashan subsidy worth Rs. 350/month will be given for each eligible family.