ISLAMABAD: Keeping in view the rising trend in the prices of daily use commodities, the federal government has increased financial assistance for the poor under the Ehsaas programme from Rs12,000 to Rs13,000.

“With the recent raise in Kafaalat stipend amount, all eligible beneficiaries of Kafaalat will now get Rs13,000 as a six-monthly stipend amount. No agent of partnering banks will be allowed to illegally deduct any money from payment to deserving families,” said Dr Sania Nishtar said in her televised message for retail agents of Habib Bank and Bank Alfalah. The video message can be viewed on Ehsaas’s official account.

“Stern action will be taken against agents involved in illegal deductions. They will be dealt with strictly according to the law,” she said and urged beneficiaries to collect full payment of Rs13,000 from agents along with the computerised payment receipt at the time of Kafaalat cash disbursement.

Eligible beneficiaries can access payment at biometric ATMs, designated retail shops and specialised campsites of partnering banks countrywide. Habib Bank serves payments in Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Islamabad and Bank Alfalah across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

Ehsaas Kafaalat is an unconditional cash transfer programme which includes cash stipends for 8 million poor women from the country.

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2022