ISLAMABAD: The Centre on Thursday urged Sindh and Balochistan to join the federal government’s much ambitious social welfare programmes — Ehsaas Ration and Sehat Card — and decided to hold local government (LG) elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtun­khwa through electronic voting machines (EVMs).

The decisions were taken at a meeting of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) core committee presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

At a press conference after the meeting, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the Balochistan government had agreed to join and contribute to the social welfare programmes, but Sindh had not yet agreed.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Welfare Dr Sania Nishtar briefed the core committee on various social welfare programmes.

Decides to hold LG elections in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa through EVMs

Fawad Chaudhry said the government was persuading the Sindh government to join the federal government for starting such welfare programmes in the province, but they were reluctant due to the “absence of chances of receiving personal gains from the programme”. “The Sindh government is anti-people as they are reluctant to join social welfare programmes of the federal government,” he added.

On the other hand, Sindh Information Minister Saeed Ghani told Dawn that the provincial government would never join the Ehsaas Ration Programme under which both the federal and provincial governments will have to contribute Rs350 and Rs650, respectively, as subsidy on three essential items — wheat flour, pulses and edible oil/ghee.

“If the federal government wants to give some relief to the poor, it should increase monthly stipend under the Ehsaas Programme from Rs2,000 to Rs3,000 instead of opting for a complicated process of availing Rs1,000 subsidy per month on three food items,” he added.

Mr Ghani said that under the Ehsaas Ration Programme, the Sindh government had to bear Rs17 billion on account of subsidy. “We [Sindh government] do not have such additional money to contribute to the programme,” he added.

Sinia Nishtar had told Dawn that if the Sindh government did not join the programme, the eligible people of the province would get only Rs350 subsidy, and not Rs1,000 per month.

LG polls through EVMs

At the press conference, Fawad Chaudhry said the Punjab Local Government Bill would be approved over the next few days, adding that LG elections in Punjab and KP would be held through EVMs.

He said local government elections were being held in 17 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on December 19 in which 37,752 candidates were taking part, with 689 candidates in the run for the slots of village chairmen and tehsil mayors and 19,282 for neighborhood councils.

Brushing aside the reports suggesting that the upcoming elections would be costly, the minister claimed that the process of elections would be a bit cheaper than to the past due to use of EVMs.

The PTI’s core committee also discussed the issue of inflation and noted that the Sensitive Price Index had posted a decrease of 0.67 per cent.

Fawad Chaudhry claimed that people would get relief in the days to come. Responding to a question, he said inflation was a result of devastating policies of the previous governments and now people like former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi were shedding crocodile tears on the price hike. He invited Mr Abbasi to have a session with the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics to understand their system of issuing figures about inflation.

The information minister termed the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) a “story of five rats” and said four rats had left the opposition alliance. “It sounds awkward to call Maulana Fazlur Rehman [PDM chief] a rat,” the minister said in an informal way while replying to a person standing behind him.

PM’s special assistant Shahbaz Gill claimed that a new video tape of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz vice president Maryam Nawaz would soon come to the fore which, he said, “will add in humiliation of the party”.

Fawad Chaudhry said former PM Khaqan Abbasi had left Rs157 billion debt, adding that “Pakistan is still bearing the brunt of their anti-people policies”.

He said the opposition was not ready to participate in the meetings of parliamentary parties [for election reforms]. “It is obvious that the opposition is not going to end their reservations over the use of EVMs in the elections,” he added.

Meetings

Presiding over a meeting on Ehsaas Ration Programme, Prime Minister Imran Khan emphasised the need for involving district government authorities to raise awareness among Karyana (grocery shops) stores and the potential beneficiaries about the programme. “The government is taking all possible measures to provide maximum relief to the common man,” he said.

The prime minister was informed that under the ration programme, a monthly subsidy of Rs1,000 on flour, ghee and pulses would be given to 20 million households of the country that have monthly income below Rs50,000.

The programme will be launched across the country on December 15. Registration of Karyana stores under the programme is in progress and more than 15,000 such stores have been registered so far.

Meanwhile, during a meeting with Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, Prime Minister Khan directed the formulation of an effective media communication strategy to highlight various government initiatives for the welfare of the people.

Special Assistant to the Punjab Chief Minister on Information Hassan Khawar and Special Assistant to the KP Chief Minister on Information Barrister Saif Ali also attended the meeting.

According to a source, the prime minister directed them to highlight alleged corruption of the opposition leaders in the media.

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2021