Poverty alleviation: Participation of society pivotal: President

President Mamnoon Hussain on Friday said that participation of the society was of pivotal importance in the process of alleviation of poverty apart from the right policies at the state level. He was addressing an Iftar dinner hosted for the non-governmental organization "Akhuwat", which works for the alleviation of poverty, here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.
On the occasion, interest free loans were also given to the women to start their own businesses. Executive Director of "Akhuwat" Dr Amjad Saqib also addressed the ceremony. The president said participation of all segments of the society in efforts to eliminate poverty promoted brotherhood and also raised the moral standards of the society, which rendered salutary impacts on all disciplines of life.
The Pakistani society was very lucky in that respect that its people had willingly taken part in the welfare work, but still there was much work left to do, he added. The president expressed his pleasure that the families, which received assistance from "Akhuwat", utilized the financial assistance very honestly to stand on their own feet and also tried to support others.
He also hoped that the families, which were starting a new journey after getting assistance from the organization, would forward the process of co-operation, compassion and empathy by following these bright examples. The president stated that the objective of the establishment of Pakistan was to hold the hands of the weak, bring them at par with the well-endowed segments of the society and stop the highhandedness of the cruel so that the society could be saved from chaos and anarchy.
Pakistan was moving step by step towards achieving those goals, he said, adding that micro-financing from "Akhuwat" was also part of the same process and millions of people from all around the country had benefitted from it. The president appreciated the fact that Dr Amjad Saqib and his colleagues had set a new trend of accepting their own responsibility by setting aside the stereotype that all had to be done by the government.
He further said that the experiment of "Akhuwat" was also part of the establishment and promotion of an egalitarian economic system. It was the strength of that movement that now federal and provincial governments were using its platform for their services towards reduction of poverty, he added.