ISLAMABAD: The federal government’s Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division (PASSD) Thursday joined hands with four government bodies to devise a collaborative framework for the launch of Ehsaas Street Hawkers Initiative that aims to bring street vendors into social safety net.

In this context, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between PASSD, Islamabad Capital Territory Administration (ICTA), Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) and Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) to collaboratively steer the design and execution of the Ehsaas Street Hawkers’ Initiative under “Mazdoor Ka Ehsaas” project.

Senator-elect and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar presided over the related ceremony.

Muhammad Ali Shahzada, Secretary PASSD, Amer Ali Ahmed, Chairman CDA/Chief Commissioner ICTA, Syeda Shafaq Hashmi, Administrator MCI and Dr Nadeem-ul-Haque, Vice Chancellor PIDE signed the MoU.

According to government estimates, there are around 20,000 street vendors operating in Islamabad, who are generating annual net income up to 9.6 billion rupees.

“Ehsaas’ support for street vendors is in line with Prime Minister’s vision of welfare state based on Riyasat-e-Madina model,” Nishtar said at the ceremony.

She said the initiative would help uplift the socio-economic conditions of the street vendors who are among the downtrodden segments of the society.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021