Here's how to avail a Rs12,000 grant from PM's ehsaas emergency cash programme

The government launched the Ehsaas Emergency Cash programme formally on Wednesday, under which they will give Rs12,000 grant to the deserving amid the coronavirus outbreak, which has virtually crippled the economy and taken an immense toll on the impoverished section of the society.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had launched a country-wide SMS service a day earlier, under the emergency cash programme. Earlier the government said that three million coronavirus victims will be identified with the help of the National Socio-Economic Registry (NSER) to provide them assistance under Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme.

Under the service, people can send an SMS with their CNIC number to the 8171, following which it will inform them about their eligibility status.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar shared a tweet on Twitter laying out the procedure of the programme, pegged to cost Rs144 billion.

According to the procedure mentioned, the service will identify if the given CNIC is valid or not and if the person is a ‘blocked beneficiary’ according to the government’s database.

The portal will also counter-check if the person’s spouse is a government official or not. In the case of being eligible, they will be informed that an SMS will soon tell them how to collect the money.

However, if they are not identified within the database through their CNIC, they will be asked to contact their respective district administration officials.

According to a Radio Pakistan report, Dr Nishtar said that as of today they have received millions of messages on 8171.

She said that people will be able to avail the grant after transparency has been ensured.

Last month, Dr Nishtar while informing about the programme, had claimed that it would benefit 67 million people across Pakistan.

"Daily wage earners are our top priority, whose livelihood has been badly affected by the corona-induced economic downturn," she said, adding that the affectees were put into three categories — 4.5 million existing Ehsaas Kafaalat beneficiaries, all of whom were women, 3 million affectees to be identified through the national socioeconomic database, and around 2.5 million to be identified through the Ehsaas SMS route.

On Tuesday, the federal cabinet under PM Imran reviewed and approved the Rs1,200 billion economic relief package, which was announced by the premier last week to deal with the coronavirus outbreak and its repercussions in Pakistan.