Faisal Karim Kundi emphasizes proactive approach to achieve targets

ISLAMABAD, Oct 25 (SABAH): Faisal Karim Kundi, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety emphasized that proactive role is required to be played in all deliverables and ensure that set targets are achieved timely. He highlighted that salient features of all programmes including those under Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) need to be projected in the media for education and awareness of the beneficiaries.

This he directed while attending briefings by the Project Heads of Ministry at Islamabad after assumption of the charge of the Ministry as SAPM. On this occasion, Additional Secretary, Senior Joint Secretary, Joint Secretary (Admin) were also present.

The SAPM was informed that Sehat Tahafuz Programme, a PSDP Project under the Ministry, was aimed at social protection by extending health facilities to people falling into extreme poverty, the programme covers catastrophic health expenditure. He was further informed that there were 14 Public Sector hospitals throughout Pakistan on panel. The Programme operates in a fully automated environment supported by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Under this initiative 15 thousand requests for health financing have been approved across Pakistan so far.

The team leader Social Protection Delivery Unit (SPDU) also briefed the SAPM about the unit’s overall mandate. “The specific objectives of SPDU include providing strategic roll-out support, monitoring and supervision of progress, advisory support to the ministry for social protection programmes, providing communication support and ensuring that all the ancillary agencies under the ministries’ umbrella abide by the social protection governance and integrity policy.

The SAPM was also briefed on National Poverty Graduation Programme (NPGP) and was apprised that the programs’ goal is to assist the ultra-poor in graduating out of poverty on sustainable basis and improving overall food security, nutritional status and resilience to climate change. So far NPGP has helped 92,790 households with some assets like, cattle, or small business and disbursed small scale loans to 111,355 households across Pakistan.