Payout package

Uprooted from their homes for a variety of reasons, including the War on Terror, the tribal people have suffered untold misery. Their travails finally came to an end when our security forces vanquished the insurgents and drove them out of their localities where they had infiltrated much to their horror. Picking up the pieces in their much ruined abodes was their next challenge as they were allowed to travel back home. In this effort, they had some solace as the authorities devised a payout package to mitigate their suffering and help them rehabilitate in their ancestral dwellings. Thousands of families availed themselves of this state largesse as they took the bus back home.

Under a policy devised in 2016 every returning family was entitled to Rs10,000 for transportation and Rs35,000 as cash grant for emergency spending soon after their return. But this package was time-bound and was suspended after lapse of six months following their return. Many families, however, could not benefit from this monetary assistance as the head of family or other responsible person from the returning families could not collect the cash at the time they set out for their hometowns. Their situation was distressing with no cash in hand upon their return. But a good news is that the Fata Disaster Management Authority, the body responsible for cash disbursement, has announced it will pay all the cash grants to families in different erstwhile tribal districts which were suspended after lapse of six months. The new policy would ensure receipt of all the suspended money through the SIM cards of the affected family head or other authorised person. This little gesture will go a long way in assuring the poor families that their government is here to take care of them in times of need.

 

 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 12^th, 2018.

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