Early morning today, Senator Dr. Sania Nishtar, SAPM chaired a briefing together with Chief Secretary Punjab, Kamran Ali Afzal on Ehsaas Rashan Registration. DG Social Welfare, Secretary Food, Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners of all districts of Punjab attended the meeting. The briefing discussed detailed plan with district administrations of Punjab to expedite the registration of Kiryana retailers and families under the ongoing Ehsaas Rashan Registration drive.
Outlining details of Ehsaas Rashan programme, Dr. Sania urged the district administrations in Punjab to support the ongoing registration drive with Kiryana retailers and families. “The successful roll-out of Ehsaas Rashan programme relies on onboarding Kiryana stores who are not currently part of the digital ecosystem. The government will provide subsidy amount and 8% specialized commission to Kiryana retailers directly in their bank accounts. Every quarter, lucky draws will also be held to award cars, motorcycles, mobile phones and several other prizes to best performing Kiryana owners”, she said.
During the meeting, all Commissioners and DCs of Punjab were encouraged to conduct awareness campaigns in lower income areas to raise cognizance on Ehsaas Rashan, conduct meetings with all local trader associations to apprise them of the programme and ask them to encourage their member Kiryana stores to register for the programme, visit Kiryana stores to answer their questions about the programme, and advertise the programme to potential participants.
Under the programme, 20 million deserving families will avail a monthly subsidy of Rs.1,000 on flour, ghee/cooking oil and pulses. Kiryana retailers can also enroll in the programme through the web-portal: https://ehsaasrashan.pass.gov.pk/. Kiryana retailers all over the country need to have a bank account for registration. Those without bank accounts can contact any branch of NBP for account opening. The authorized Kiryana retailers will be able to participate in the programme by installing the mobile point of Sale App in their cell phones for which they will receive training from NBP.
Chief Secretary Punjab and district administrations widely lauded Ehsaas Rashan programme and ensured full support for its registration drive. It was agreed that a regular weekly meeting will be convened to track the registration drive across all districts of Punjab.
Muhammad Ali Shahzada, Secretary Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division (PASSD), Captain (Rtd) Saeed Ahmed Nawaz, Additional Secretary of the Division, Hamayoun Sajjad, Chief Digital Officer, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and other senior officials of the bank also joined the briefing.
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