At least 12m deserving families will get cash grant: Sania Nishtar

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation Dr. Sania Nishtar has said that almost 12 million deserving families will get a cash grant of Rs 12,000 each in the wake of COVID-19.

In an explanatory video, Dr. Sania Nishtar asked the people of Pakistan to send SMS carrying CNIC numbers to 8171 to check their eligibility status to get a cash grant under Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program.

Dr. Sania Nishtar further said that it is one-time assistance and 144 billion rupees have been allocated for the purpose. She also mentioned that if the demand increase additional resources may be embarked. She further said that employees of provincial and federal governments were not eligible.

Commenting on transfer of money, she said that transfer of cash assistance will be ensured in a transparent and rule-based manner.

In this regard, she further said that deserving families would get cash assistance after biometric verification through over 18,065 sale points of Habib Bank Limited and Bank Al-Falah across Pakistan.

The Special Assistant said that higher eligibility or poverty threshold would be used to identify four million beneficiaries through the national socioeconomic databases, while another 3.5 million people would come from districts.

Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced a stimulus financial package for the people amid coronavirus and lockdown situation.