Fully determined to reduce the burden of hunger for the poor, the Government of Pakistan’s multisectoral poverty alleviation programme, ‘Ehsaas’ is partnering with Saylani Welfare International Trust (SWIT) to open ‘Ehsaas Langar’ (soup kitchen) shortly in Islamabad. This joint initiative will later be extended countrywide to other cities as well to feed the poor and needy, in particular in Karachi, Hyderabad, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Quetta and Peshawar. Under the public private partnership arrangement for the said ‘Langar’, the federal government is extending on-the-ground facilitation and support, while the Trust is bringing in its kitchen and food distribution resources to feed the needy every day. The journey of this mutual collaboration began when Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister paid visits to Saylani Welfare International Trust’s food distribution and kitchen sites last month during her official visits to Karachi and Quetta to explore ways of collaborating with provinces under Ehsaas. To mutually articulate the policy and operational modalities for launching and expanding Ehsaas Langar beginning with Islamabad, Dr. Sania Nishtar had invited the leadership of SWIT at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat in Islamabad yesterday. It was discussed that once the overarching policy and operational modalities have been finalized by the end of this week, it will be followed by memorandum of action that will be inked between Ehsaas and SWIT. During the course of meeting, the preliminary scale, breadth and diversity of the joint initiative were also framed out by both the parties. It was agreed that further deliberations will take place soon to build up on the agreed areas of collaboration including identification of Langar sites in different areas of Pakistan. Talking to the Trust, Dr. Nishtar said, “the Prime Minister has directed that we should open Langars and that no one should go hungry; this is our gesture of curbing the uncertainty for the poor who often are not aware, if they will have food to eat next. With Ehsaas Langar service, they will now know that there is always a space under Ehsaas supported by the Government of Pakistan where they can eat daily”. She also stressed the need for ensuring integrity and quality in service delivery to feed the poor with respect and dignity. President SWIT, M. Yousaf Lakhani assured full cooperation on behalf of the Trust to the government with regard to Ehsaas Langar Initiative. Dr. Nishtar appreciated that SWIT was providing help to the needy in different fields, which was highly commendable. Referring to her recent meeting with the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Dr. Nishtar said that the Prime Minister is very hopeful about the success of ‘Ehsaas Langar’ and has shown full confidence into the partnership of Ehsaas with SWIT to feed the marginalized. The SWIT is a Pakistani charity focusing on social welfare of the poor and distressed. The Trust endeavors to provide the quality services in areas including food, education, medical and social welfare free of cost to the marginalized people. With over 60 different sectors, they primarily feed thousands of hungry people each day, hundreds more are given the hope of life through medical health care, many are educated to become leaders of tomorrow and several are given the opportunity to stand on their feet financially. Their physical presence extends throughout Pakistan with a vast network of 125 branches operating in major cities including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Hyderabad and Faisalabad.
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