By Menahill Rashid
Below statements are the Hallmark financial support Programs started by the PM to uplift the poor. “Ten million people belonging to low-income groups will get a Rs12,000 four-month stipend in a lump sum under Prime Minister Imran Khan’s relief package announced by the federal government to mitigate adverse impact of coronavirus on their family budget”
“The government would provide Rs144 billion under the package and that money would be in addition to already allocated funds for the government’s programme for the poor, called Ehsaas”
“The Prime Minister has also announced Rs200 billion for daily wage workers and it is expected that the amount may also be distributed through provinces”
“Ehsaas officials decided to give the amount of Rs12,000 in lump sum to the eligible and deserving people”
“The Prime Minister had announced Rs1.15 trillion relief package to help the poor and members of low-income group, agriculture, export and industrial sectors amid adverse impact of coronavirus pandemic on the country’s economy”
“The total 10 million beneficiaries of the government decision, five million people are those who are already getting the monthly stipend under Ehsaas Kafalat while three million people are those whose monthly income is Rs20,000. The other two million people are daily wage workers and vendors who are at present not registered with the programme, will be covered under the PM’s relief package”
“Their eligibility for this category will be assessed by relaxing the poverty criteria in the database. If someone is not in the database, then those people will be asked to submit their credentials with deputy commissioner office concerned where their financial status will be assessed and names of those declared eligible will be sent to Ehsaas programme for further procedure,”
Undoubtedly, Ehsaas receives lists of eligible applicants from DC offices, they will put in a filter with the help of National Database Registered Authority (NADRA) to ascertain they fell in the category of eligible applicants under the government stipulated criteria (which says these people should not be government servants or spouses of government servants and they should not have a car and motorbike and no record of having travelled abroad).
“In the next stage, these applicants’ data would be put in a computer having the bigger data to confirm the veracity of these applicants’ financial status”
“Once the applicants are cleared by the Ehsaas assessment mechanism, they will receive an SMS for collection of the money from the designated banks”
In the light of the above statements, let’s steer! DC as well as the criteria of nominating a person for financial support is very transparent and attractive; but in Pakistan those poor especially the old, disabled, teenage girls spreading their hands towards the common people in the buses, trains, roads and streets despite above hallmark programs announced by the Government whether succeeded to stand them on their own feet? These above were the methodology, planning and support strategies for the eligible poor persons announced by the Government. It should up till now to stand them all on their own feet whereas the number of deserving is increasing day by day.
Government sectors may keep launching/continuing these financial support phenomenon! could it end the poverty? because many other Governments also launched in the past such financial stability programming, but the poor remained standing on the same page. Because? there is dire need to support all the poor including the beggars to stand them on their own feet. There is dire need to frame a specific law to stand them on their own feet.
May we consider to eliminate poverty and begging with the support of such these programs? Let’s end the timely support which is not the permanent based support to end the habit of taking again and again.
Support to those poor who are eligible to work and can stand by the other persons of the family who are old, and disabled.
So, the DC in all districts might be allowed to prepare the comprehensive list of all the deserving poor & beggars, and they should be supported by means of producing them all required tools to work to get self-sufficiency instead collecting and expending generally.
Beggars said that, intentionally they did not want to beg but they always prefer to start small type work to earn by selling certain things.
This will be a fair way to get livelihood instead moving on various localities, they added.
This is the need of time to focus the persons including also the old aged, disabled and teenage girls begging for their families in the Buses, Bazars and Streets. Certain things are apparent but the society instead focusing deeply, ignores it. Would that, our society as well as the Government were focus on priority these persons, certainly up till now all these begging phenomenon could end in the smoke if they were engaged to do their own work with the financial support of the Government.
These beggars during the survey have said that, the Government although preferred the specific eligible poor persons, but the poor like the beggars were hardly considered and how much they were facing the problems economically? whenever the Government launched such financial support programs for the poor, the circumstantially forced persons like beggars have been ignored. What will happen to the norms and values of the society when the teenage girls start begging in the society? what will be the values standard regarding the old and disabled are spreading their hands towards the peoples from decades?
We ourselves as well as beggars themselves are mentally against this social problem but there is needed a special focus for them to start small work by means of specific financial aid to them.
Beside applying the formula to the deserving poor, first of all these individuals mean beggars are more righteous to be considered on priority to eradicate the Social problem of begging, whom our religion also forbids.
They need financial stability to run out some small type business in the community because they want to live with due respect. Begging is a social problem but ever we liked to concentrate over its causes and its elimination?
Every person is not a habitual and professional beggar. A person of good conscience sometimes is forced to beg, because being disabled from two legs, a beggar of Chiniot, Muhammad Gulzar 03057767917 expressed, he is compelled to beg for his children in which he said, he had two young daughters and he could not arrange her marriages because everyone first asked him whether he could give such and such dowry.
He said that he mentally did not like to beg and left the home and went to Tehsil Lalian 25 ok off from Chiniot District so that his relatives might not observe him, because mentally he is against the begging and his conscience does not permit him to do it.
He said he always liked to have some own minor type business like fruit shop but due to shortage of money, could not do it.
The beggars said that whenever they applied for Government financial incentive of Rs. 12000/- were not enrolled, but those who came over their motorcycles obtained this financial support. He clarified that, he applied three times but could not become the part of their eligibility list.
He said that, was this the appropriate rule? to ignore the disabled, old aged and teenage girls beggars and favor to the motorcyclists!
It might be more appropriate! not to support the poor, but Support the phenomena which caused them to become the people poor, and after it, the ratio of the poor will be minimized gradually. On the other hands, these beggars should be given appropriate financial support to arrange and sell fruit on handcarts. Being wheelbarrow they can earn livelihood instead moving here and there for sack of collecting penny from the People. They can also open convenience store, convenience shop, or corner shop making small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, tobacco products, over-the-counter drugs, toiletries, newspapers and magazines.
Timely support and the permanent support have difference, permanent financial support is to stand one person on his own feet, in this way all persons will be saved from the trap of the phenomena of begging. There is a dire need to observe the current financial position of the eligible poor persons, because situations vary time to time and previous data analysis may or may not tally, who is deserving financially?
All the poor including the beggars should be considered equally. Deserving poor numbers can be double even triple with the passage of time, but the treasure specific for them will at last end. So equal financial aid opportunities for all to stand them on their own feet are necessary. Financial support phenomenon should be accelerated to create self- sufficiency.
