Quaid's picture to be on Ehsaas Kafaalat cards
The present government in a brave and unprecedented move has depoliticized the Safety nets by printing picture of Quaid-i Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah on the new Ehsaas Kafaalat card.
The innovative new Kafaalat program, to be launched on Friday by Prime Minister Imran Khan, will provide PKR 2,000 monthly cash payments to seven million of the poorest women in the country.
Previous safety net initiatives under BISP were mired in politicization because of the image of political figures,
Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar said in a press release issued here. For decades, Benazir Bhutto's picture dominated the BISP card. Later, in Nawaz Sharif's Government, two pictures appeared on the card-Nawaz Sharif above and Benazir below.
By putting the Quaid's picture on the identification card, the Government has settled the matter once and for all and has depoliticized the matter of safety nets, she said . Coming under the umbrella of Ehsaas, the Kafaalat will realise the Prime Minister's longstanding commitment to "Money for Rations" and 'One
Woman, One Bank Account'.
All beneficiaries will be able to access the payments at special ATMs and bank branches and will also have to option to deposit funds into a savings account. "There are major differences between the earlier BISP program and Kafaalat", Dr. Sania Nishtar said.
Major changes have been made after 10 years. The survey methodology has been revised to enable ongoing identification of beneficiaries through desk registration. The earlier survey was 10 years old.
Also, the payment system was 10 years old, through a new procurement process, a new payment system has been installed.