Prime Minister Imran Khan launched a key initiative that not only brings ease for the beneficiaries but also brings major initiatives of the concurrent government under one umbrella. The premier launched the Naya Pakistan Card initiative through which beneficiaries will be able to avail subsidy packages of the government on the same card.
More About Naya Pakistan Card
The federal and provincial governments of Pakistan have launched different initiatives for the welfare of the state. These initiatives include food subsidy packages, health insurance and scholarships among various other initiatives which will now be under the umbrella of the Naya Pakistan Card. Previously, for all different initiatives, the beneficiaries had to use different platforms and cards to use these schemes but with effective use of technology and data management, the mega welfare programme has been launched.
The initiative currently covers Ehsaas Ration Programme which provides food subsidy packages for low-income families, Sehat Card, Kisan Card and student scholarships programme. These programmes have brought a positive change in the lives of underprivileged families who, due to lack of enough funds, couldn’t afford basic necessities.
For economic growth and uplifting underprivileged people, different schemes for loans and technical education have been launched. These are intended to provide desired knowledge, skills and funding to individuals who want to establish their businesses for better income. Some of these programmes such as health insurance have already been launched and are being replicated by other provinces too.
Let’s take a look at these initiatives that will be covered by the Naya Pakistan Card.
Sehat Sahulat Programme
Under the Sehat Sahulat Programme, the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa launched health insurance for all the citizens of the province. Although this is a countrywide initiative, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa took the lead and in September 2021, 62,557 residents of the province were reportedly facilitated by the Sehat Card. The social welfare programme aims to provide medical facilities and make them well within the reach of a common man who can have access to free-of-cost indoor health care services.
In a bid to replicate the KP’s Naya Pakistan initiatives in Punjab, the prime minister also launched the “Sehat Card” initiative in Punjab.
You can check your eligibility in the programme by sending your National Identity Card (NIC) number to 8500. If you are eligible, you can get your Sehat Card from the card distribution centre in your district.
Ehsaas Ration Portal
Ehsaas Ration Portal is a linking system between donors and beneficiaries for ration distribution to underprivileged families. The programme enables private sector and civil organizations to reach out to the most vulnerable and deserving beneficiaries with grocery packages or cash. The portal was widely used during COVID-19 lockdowns and certain checks have been put in place by the government to ensure the eligibility criteria are met. The portal uses data from the Ehsaas Programme and provides donors with different parameters such as location and gender to determine which segment they would like to donate to.
Kisan Card
Kisan Card, as the name suggests, is an initiative for farmers to provide them with much-needed help, especially during difficult times. On the basis of these cards, the government provides them with aid and subsidies on the purchase of seeds, fertilizers and pesticides. The initiative is particularly beneficial for small-scale farmers because they can also get insurance for their crops.
Scholarships For Students
Under its various programmes, the incumbent government has also provided scholarship opportunities to students in order to encourage and facilitate the pursuit of higher education. For this purpose, funds of PKR 47 billion have been allocated by the government to award 6.3 million scholarships strictly on a merit basis. To ensure that these are only provided on merit, a cell is being set up at the PM secretariat which will collect and analyze students’ data. These scholarships are part of the Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarship Programme.
More such schemes are also a work in progress and will be launched to make the country a proper welfare state. Already in the pipeline is the Kamyab Pakistan scheme under which 2 million eligible families will be able to get interest-free loans of up to PKR 400,000 for self-employment and one member of every family will receive free technical education.
You can read about different initiatives of the federal and provincial governments in detail on Zameen Blog. You can also write to us at blog@zameen.com to leave us your valuable feedback and don’t forget to subscribe to Zameen Newsletter for regular updates about the property sector of Pakistan.
