Sania says Ehsaas cash programme budget being increased to Rs203bn
TLTP
ISLAMABAD
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz has said that Rs400 billion construction related projects will be initiated in the last quarter of the current year.
Addressing a press conference along with Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection Dr Sania Nishtar here on Thursday, Faraz said a project envisaging construction of houses and apartments worth Rs145 billion will be started on the 20th October.
The information minister said that Prime Minister Imran Khan is giving special emphasis to the uplift of the construction sector in order to revive the economy as well as realize the dream of disadvantaged segments of the society to own their houses.
The information minister said those constructing five marla houses will be given loans on five percent markup and for the ten marla houses, the markup rate will be seven percent. He said that installments will be such that the people could easily pay. He said additional Rs30 billion have been set aside as subsidy for the Naya Pakistan Housing scheme.
The information minister expressed satisfaction over the recent auctions of the Capital Development Authority (CDA), saying there is an enabling environment for the construction sector in the country. Faraz said the Prime Minister chaired a meeting of the National Coordination Committee on Housing, Construction and Development. It was attended by the country’s prominent investors and builders. He said the meeting discussed several proposals to uplift the sector including holding international roadshows for construction related projects in order to attract investment of overseas Pakistanis.
He said the Prime Minister has now decided to hold the meeting of the committee every two or three days keeping in view the importance of the sector which is both labor and capital intensive.
The information minister said the focus of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s policies is the middle class and poor segments of the society.
Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection Dr Sania Nishtar said that the government has decided to expand the scope of the Ehsaas Emergency Cash programme. She said its budget is being increased from Rs144 billion to Rs203 billion. She said 16.9 million deserving families, which almost cover more than half of Pakistan’s population, will benefit from this scheme.
Dr Sania Nishtar said that distribution of cash assistance is continuing till the last deserving family gets the amount. She said Ehsaas Emergency Cash programme is the biggest social protection package announced in Pakistan’s history.
She said this programme is being commended at the international level under which cash assistance is being provided to deserving families in a transparent manner and beyond political affiliation.
