9.6m families registered under Ehsaas Ration Programme

Programme receives overwhelming support; Ehsaas Ration website gets more than 500 million visits over the last month

ISLAMABAD:

Over 9.6 million families and 10,000 Kiryana stores have so far registered in Ehsaas Ration Programme.

Government sources on Tuesday confirmed that so far more than 9 million families have registered to seek financial support, while over 10,000 retail units have also registered.

The programme has received overwhelming support, they added. “The Ehsaas Ration website has had more than 500 million visits over the last month.”

Under the programme, which is being introduced on the direct instructions of Prime Minister Imran Khan, 20 million families with income below Rs.50,000 and those who fall below a certain poverty score will be entitled to receive a discount of Rs1000 every month on the purchase of three grocery items: flour, pulses, cooking oil/ghee.

The cabinet approved the programme in the first week of November and shortly thereafter a communication campaign was launched to solicit applications for this program.

The next phase involves analysis which will be done later this month. Eligible families will receive confirmation of their eligibility status through an SMS from 8171, which is the Ehsaas SMS identity.

This is an end-to-end digital program and involves the processing of the subsidy through a mobile point of sale which will be downloadable by the Kiryana retailer. The government is encouraging more than more retailers to enrol in the programme.

Ehsaas Rashan Riayat is expected to start accruing benefits from the last week of December.

Families seeking to get registered will be required to send their CNIC number to 8171, making sure that the mobile used for texting is registered in the name of the same national identity card number.

Kiryana merchants desirous of participating should register at ehsaasrashan.pass.gov.ok visit the nearest branch of National Bank of Pakistan.