Basic Facts About the Nadra Ehsaas Program
You may have already heard of the Nadra ehsaas (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) program. But do you know how it works? Read on to know more about this government scheme. Here are some of the basic facts about this program:
Funding for the program
The National Reconstruction Authority’s (NRA) Ehsaas Program is now open for registration. To register, parents need to visit the nearest Ehsaas Center, along with their child’s B-Form, CNIC, and school admission receipt.
The process is simple and secure, and all applicants must complete all information completely and accurately. Read on to learn how.
The government has made the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program a priority, announcing that it will donate Rs 12,000 per family to 6.7 million affected families in a month.
As of April 2020, the Government will grant Rs 3,000 to every sponsored user, in addition to an emergency relief allowance of Rs 1,000.
The government plans to use this money to support health care, education, and other essential programs.
The government hopes to raise the rest of the money necessary to implement the NADRA Ehsaas Program. The PM’s call for donations and telethons have been overwhelmingly supportive.
As of this writing, the Ehsaas program has distributed Rs. 179 billion to over 15 million households at risk of extreme poverty, or almost half the population.
The government is proud to be the largest social protection intervention in Pakistan, providing an average of Rs. 12,000 per family.
NADRA Ehsaas Program is distributing cash to eligible households through the Bachat Bank Account initiative, which includes saving wallets to all 8 million Ehsaas Kafaalat beneficiaries.
This program also supports the Government’s One Woman One Account Policy, which helps women plan for long-term goals while providing extra money for unexpected needs.
NADRA Ehsaas Program is open to all, so the program is not limited to government employees.
NADRA has taken an important role in the Ehsaas Program, which has a highly transparent system of identifying beneficiaries.
The government has also launched an online survey to help identify those eligible and ensure a fair payment process.
The survey will initially benefit residents of 17 districts. However, the BISP will consider a separate process for the cash disbursement of the grants.
Beneficiaries eligible for the program
NADRA Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program is the government’s latest initiative to support the poor and needy. With the aid of the Ehsaas Rashan Portal, the private sector and civil society can reach COVID-19 beneficiaries.
This portal helps the organizations link their data with eligible beneficiaries, and assess their tax compliance and trustworthiness. The Ehsaas Rashan Portal also helps NGOs in identifying eligible beneficiaries.
NADRA Ehsaas Program Ration Portal is a government-backed online portal that enables the public, charity organizations, and NGOs to reach deserving families through the Ehsaas programme.
This portal will facilitate the distribution of food ration to beneficiaries. It will also make the ration distribution system transparent.
The Ehsaas Ration Portal will provide the necessary information to help donors make their donations.
The Ehsaas Emergency Cash portal shows that there are no eligible beneficiaries in North Waziristan, but it lists 18 in South Waziristan.
There are approximately 1,437,483 beneficiaries in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. To date, 1,152,544 beneficiaries have received the cash. Several interesting facts about beneficiaries in different districts of the province are provided on the portal.
Once eligible, beneficiaries are verified through the NADRA at the point of payment.
NADRA has adopted biometric devices across all payment touchpoints, so that beneficiaries can withdraw the money they earn through their Ehsaas Kafalat Program.
Moreover, Ehsaas Kafalat participants can withdraw the money they earn through biometric ATMs and dedicated bank branches.
The program also has dedicated Point of Sales agents in each city, ensuring the utmost transparency in the distribution of cash.
NADRA Ehsaas Program offers monthly assistance to eligible women, and is connected to several other initiatives of the Ehsaas umbrella program.
NADRA Ehsaas Program for example, increases the access to mobile phones for women. It also offers “graduation” programs, which aim to transition people from the poorest living conditions into higher income levels.
Registration process
Applicants of the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme have to register through an online portal. The government has allocated PKR 144 billion in this programme, which is being implemented in the country to provide financial assistance to the poor.
The programme is currently in its second phase. In the first phase, the government awarded PKR 12,000 to 4.5 million underprivileged women. The second phase, Ehsaas Labour Programme 2022, will be launched soon.
The Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division has set certain parameters for the NADRA Ehsaas Program. The data collected from the applicants is verified against the parameters, and successful applicants will be informed via SMS or email.
Applicants will be required to submit their Computerized National Identity Card (NIC) and other documents. After successful registration, the applicant will have a chance to get a permanent job in their district.
NADRA Ehsaas Program process is expected to take about six months. The first phase of the process will involve registering people from 15 districts.
As the government gradually expands the program, the number of registration desks will increase. This will make the process easier for beneficiaries.
To ensure the smooth process for participants, NADRA has set up new dedicated centers for the Ehsaas survey.
The implementation of NADRA has empowered minorities in Pakistan. Muslim eunuchs were allowed to register, Hindu marriages were recorded through Mukhis and Christian baptism certificates were accepted.
This enables every minority in Pakistan to register and vote with equal rights. With the introduction of the NADRA Ehsaas Program registration process, approximately 1.3 million Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs were able to register. Other minorities like Jews and Parsis were also empowered.
Those in need of cash can now use the Ehsaas Emergency Cash-Know Your Status portal to find out their eligibility status. By entering their CNIC number and completing the registration process, they can get a PKR 12,000 monthly scholarship.
The system will also allow beneficiaries to make secure and confidential online payments through a Safe Payments System. The government plans to distribute PKR 144 billion to 12 million deserving families in the next three years.
Cash transfer amount
The Ehsaas Kafaalat program offers a supplementary cash payment solution for poor households. The Ehsaas Know Your Status Portal allows the poor to view the status of their cash transfers at any time. In addition, the program has a mechanism for the beneficiaries’ families to receive money if a family member dies. A commercial for the Ehsaas program is available here.
The Prime Minister inaugurated the Emergency Cash program in April 2020, which will benefit between 100 million and 120 million members of the recipient households.
The program is projected to provide emergency cash for tens of millions of Pakistanis, or about 47 percent of the country’s total population. The PM urged Pakistanis to apply and make use of this money. In April 2019, the government issued a new budget of $900 million USD for the program. The next expansion is scheduled for May 2020.
The Ehsaas Emergency Cash program began in Pakistan, with 4.5 million women receiving payments through Kafaalat. But a recent survey revealed that only a third of the program’s beneficiaries are women. In addition, the program requires that the program beneficiaries be women to be eligible.
However, this is far from ideal as women make up only 12.5% of the poorest households in Pakistan.
A number of other Ehsaas emergency cash programs are currently available in Pakistan. The Ehsaas Emergency Cash program has been rolled out nationwide, aiming to reach an additional 7.5 million people.
This new program uses the National Socio-Economic Registry to screen IDs and determine eligibility. Scores below 32 points are needed to be eligible for Category II.
Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program guarantees that up to 25 percent of recipients will be women. However, the survey also found that 43 percent of women will not receive direct Ehsaas payments.
This may lead to a regress in economic gender equality. To combat this, the government of Pakistan needs to ensure that more women receive emergency cash assistance and prioritize the registration of women.