ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday directed the relevant ministries, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and private sector partners to reassess the ongoing awareness campaign for the Rs20 billion Ramazan Relief Package, aiming to increase outreach and bridge the gap between disbursement and withdrawals.

The prime minister, during his visit to the National Telecommu­nication Corporation headquarters to monitor the execution of the programme, was told that the around 2.8 million entitled accounts had been credited with Rs5,000 each and 683,000 of those had withdrawn the amount.

“As 94pc of accounts had been established, the withdrawal ratio is just 22pc. There is a big gap between disbursement and withdrawal, which shows a lack of awareness among the people,” the prime minister remarked and asked the SBP governor to join the campaign to benefit as many people as possible from the programme.

He appreciated the relevant ministries and partners for the construction and execution of this “comprehensive and wonderful” programme and for accepting the challenge of supporting the entitled deserving people during the holy month of Ramazan.

Only 22pc beneficiaries withdraw relief funds

“This was a new concept to say goodbye to the Utility Stores forever due to the massive complaints of ‘worst’ corruption of public money, which was also an injustice to the common man. The issues of poor quality and corruption have been dealt with through a new modern digital wallet,” he said.

The prime minister said that four million families comprising over 20m people from across the country would benefit from the programme which was the first ever such initiative by the government to disburse the cash amount through a transparent mechanism without any issues of quality or transparency.

The provision of Rs5,000 to each family would enable the beneficiary family to purchase the commodities of their own choice, he added.

He said a validation system was a central component of the programme, immediately correcting any mistake.

PM Shehbaz also urged the people to call the programme helpline 9999 to get their financial support without delay.

The prime minister also called the helpline and asked the call agent about the functioning of the programme and any issues being faced during the process.

He said that as the ongoing Ramazan Package was the first such facility, the private partners should suggest ways to expand the cash disbursal mechanism to a maximum level.

During the briefing, the prime minister was given an overview of the live monitoring system. It was told that over 60 people were serving at the call centre.

IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja said that since the launch of the programme, 689,000 calls had been received, of which 522,000 were addressed through an automated system of IVR and the rest 90,000 by call agents.

It was told that 94pc accounts had been established while Rs14bn had already been credited to beneficiaries’ accounts and 683,000 beneficiaries have withdrawn the amount. Besides, a track-and-trace system was in place to undo any wrong transaction without any delay.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2025