Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar said that Sindh's share of the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme was increased to accommodate the number of applications received.

Speaking to the media in Karachi alongside the premier, she said: "When we started the programme, we thought we will keep the share according to the 2017 census; according to that, Sindh's share was 22 per cent.

"But when we saw the applications [...] majority were from Sindh." She added that her team presented two proposals to the prime minister, one of which was to keep the same share as the 2017 consensus.

"The prime minister said to keep politics aside and Sindh's share was increased to 31pc, while Punjab's was reduced from 51pc to 43pc."