LAHORE: Inaugurating the ‘Punjab Socio-Economic Registry (PSER) Project’ Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said that ‘Social Registry’ is essential for the classification of beneficiaries. She highlighted, “Punjab has a population of 130 million, but it is not known how many people fall into which socio-economic category.”

She congratulated all relevant people including Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb who worked strenuously for the project.

The CM said, ”More than 5000 registration centres have been set up across Punjab. By registering in the Socio-Economic Registry, people will be entitled to social protection programs of the government.”

She said, “People can register themselves on the portal even sitting at their homes. They can also contact Punjab Socio-Economic Registry Helpline 0800-02345.”

Highlighting the importance of credible data, she said, ”While monitoring the delivery of Ramadan Relief Package to the people of Punjab at their doorsteps during Ramazan-ul-Mubarik, we found that the undeserving people also got Ramadan Relief packages because we had no credible data.”

She added, “During physical verification, it was also found that people were not residing as per the data. Ramadan packages were distributed to the public using the data of NADRA and Benazir Income Support Program.”

She lamented, “There is no authentic data about farmers either. To avoid tax, many farmers have divided their land into 12 acres and registered them under Kissan Card.” She said there is also no reliable data on persons with disabilities. She said, “Authentic crime data for each district is being compiled. It is sad that many of the 130 million residents cannot afford to pay their electricity bills. Electricity bills are more than the monthly income of many people.”

The CM said they are bringing solar project for 4.5 million consumers in Punjab, which will reduce their electricity bills by half.

She added, “I want to have authentic data so that only rightful one could benefit from any of the Government’s initiatives.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024