Providing relief to needy people biggest challenge: PM Imran

He said Ehsas programme was free of any political influence as the data was collected digitally.

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday said that the government will distribute the relief money from Thursday (tomorrow) among needy families.

Speaking to the media representatives in Islamabad on Wednesday, he said that a total of Rs12,000 will be distributed among 12 million families from 17,000 different points. He assured that distribution of funds to the deserving families will be totally merit-based, transparent and non-political what may come.

The prime minister maintained that the Ehsas programme was free of any political influence as the data was collected digitally.

Imran Khan went on to say that the Corona Tigers Relief Force has two main purposes: to identify people who are needy and to identify people who need to be put under quarantine. “The force volunteers will try to locate people who are unable to register through SMS for the cash disbursement programme,” he said.

PM Khan further said that the gathering of people in one place is a dangerous thing, adding that the people are not following restrictions in many areas. “Coronavirus is “very dangerous" for the elderly and sick people,” he added.

The premier cautioned that every single person out of 100 persons in Pakistan might be infected due to Covid-19.

He urged the citizens to understand gravity of the Coronavirus situation and demonstrate responsibility by adopting all necessary precautionary measures to contain the virus.

The prime minister urged the opposition leaders, parliamentarians and civil society to support government in its endeavours to steer Pakistan out of Covid-19.

Speaking on the occasion, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar said the government has received over 30.5 million SMS on 8171 for financial assistance under Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme.

She said over 12 million deserving families will be awarded 12,000 rupees each after biometric verification. Dr Sania Nishtar said Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme is countrywide umbrella, and all provinces, including Federation, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, are part of this platform.

The Special Assistant asked people to contact toll-free helpline number 0800-26477 for any query.

In his remarks, NDMA Chairman Lt General Muhammad Afzal said Personal Protective Equipment will be sent to all provincial hospitals during the next three days.

He said at present, 22 laboratories are functional across the country, while equipment for establishing further 12 laboratories has been dispatched to the provinces.

The NDMA Chairman said 100,000 testing kits will arrive in Pakistan tonight out of which 35000 kits will be given to Sindh, 15000 to Balochistan, while 25000 each will be given to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Lt General Muhammad Afzal informed that 2,35,000 more testing kits will be imported on Friday.