Social protection authority yet to become functional

The natural course for a law when passed by the Assembly is for the government to ensure its implementation in letter and spirit but the Sindh Social Protection Authority Act has been devoid of such treatment.

Back in July of 2022, the Sindh Assembly passed the Sindh Social Protection Authority Act, and the Governor of the province assented to it in August but due to bureaucratic obstacles, the creation of the authority and the transfer of various provincial departments working on social protection to the Authority, has not materialised to date.

In contrast, despite the Sindh government having passed the law before them, the Punjab Cabinet has recently approved the transfer of all departments and programs related to social security to the Punjab Social Protection Authority.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sindh Social Protection Authority, Nisar Memon, when asked about the long delay, informed that unlike Punjab, institutions and departments related to social protection in Sindh will not be transferred to the Social Protection Authority. “All the existing departments and institutions related to social security in the province will remain intact.

Only the programmes under their management will be implemented through the Sindh Social Protection Authority,” Memon explained.

When pressed for a response on the year-long delay in implementation of the law regardless of how the Authority will function, Memon replied that the monsoon flooding had set them back. “The Peoples Relief Program managed by the Authority was to be started by the Sindh government during the current fiscal year, under which the destitute were to be helped by giving them cash disbursements.

However, after the floods, we decided to reroute the money to rehabilitation initiatives,” informed the CEO, adding that Rs 15 billion had been earmarked for the Authority but would now be spent on the construction of houses for flood affectees.

It is pertinent to mention that the Express Tribune learnt from sources privy to the matter, that in 2020, the Sindh government had similarly planned to distribute Rs 20 billion for the financial assistance of those affected by the coronavirus related lockdowns but the cash disbursement did not materialise. In 2021, it was decided to distribute the amount in the current financial year but the proposal could not be implemented for the second-year running. Subsequently, the amount was reduced from Rs 20 billion to the Rs 15 billion that Memon mentioned, and was to be allocated for the social protection program in the current year’s budget. Now, as per Memon, the money will be spent on the construction of houses for flood victims and it will be managed by Sindh Peoples Housing Company.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2023.