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The establishment of Poverty Alleviation Authority has been delayed and the government has yet to finalise a strategy to bring all public social welfare organisations under one umbrella that have been working in the centre and provinces under different set of laws and acts. A well placed source told this correspondent that the government is pondering two options in setting up the authority - through an act of the parliament or through an official notification, but nothing is final at this stage.
He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has already approved a summary for the establishment of the authority, but this has yet to be placed before the federal cabinet for formal approval.
The government is planning to create a poverty alleviation unit by bringing together around 16 government and semi-government organisations under one platform, but it is faced with legal hitches as under the constitution some of the welfare subject matters fall within the jurisdiction of the provinces.
The wide-ranging poverty alleviation authority will be mandated to improve technical skills of youth through education, increase employment opportunities, enhance access to financial assistance for promotion of small-sized businesses and provide inexpensive accommodation, social protection and Sehat Insaf Card.
Among all these public welfare organisations, Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) remains the largest in terms of allocation of funds and number of beneficiaries. The PTI government allocated Rs 124.7 billion for the BISP for fiscal year 2018-19 to provide monthly cash stipend to around 5.7 million beneficiaries, out of 7.7 million eligible families for the programme as identified through a Poverty Scorecard survey in 2010.
A BISP official told Business Recorder that Chairperson Dr Sania Nishtar has already given a briefing to the prime minister about role and objective of the organisation in alleviating poverty across the country.
He said that there would be a need to amend rules and laws of BISP too if it is included in the poverty alleviation authority, because the organisation is currently meant only for poor women and their children.
He said that even if the authority is established, the government will have to formulate specific rules and laws to make all public welfare organisations work in close coordination to benefit the poor.
"The government has yet to define the poor and who will benefit from the social welfare programmes," he said, adding that it was a cumbersome task and would require input from the provincial governments and all relevant stakeholders.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019

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