The Ministry of Social Welfare and Special Education is taking steps to redesign 'Food Support Programme' to generate more employment opportunities for deserving persons. The program was launched under auspices of Pakistan Bail-ul-Mal (PBM) in 2002-03, targeting the poor to improve their living standard by providing them financial support.
Such steps, the official said, were being taken as per directives of the social welfare and special education minister to extend blessings of the project to maximum number of poor people at the grass-roots level.
He said the ministry was also working out plan to set up small industries at the local level under the 'food support program' to provide employment and training opportunities to the members of the poor families, across the country.
The 'food support program' was launched in 2002-03 with a subsidy of Rs 2,000 was given to around 1.25 million poor families in two biannual installments of Rs 1,000 through the post offices countrywide. During 2003-04, the government increased the rate of annual subsidy from Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,400 in two biannual installments bringing the budget from Rs 2.5 billion to Rs 3 billion. In 2005-06, the rate of annual subsidy was further increased from Rs 2,400 to Rs 3,000 per year with an enhanced coverage of 1.46 million households.
The Bail-ul-Mal disbursed Rs 4.38 billion among households these in 2005-06 under this program throughout the country. The annual budget of the said program had been increased from Rs 4.38 billion to Rs 6 billion in 2007-08 with an objective to facilitate more needy persons.
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