Small steps

The Ehsaas Kafalat programme is a remarkable and praise-worthy effort on the part of the government to assist the highly deprived segment of our society. It aims to provide financial support to about one million families by giving them a monthly stipend of Rs2000 through a foolproof banking system. The programme will also include scholarships for deserving students from low-income families.

However, though the scheme is a step in the right direction, it is ultimately insufficient to meaningfully improve the prospects of 220 million Pakistanis. The people of Pakistan are facing price hikes in everything – from utilities to food items to medicines. Though the government has initiated some measures to bring down the price of wheat and sugar, thus far these actions don’t seem to have had any impact in the market place. The government needs to increase the purchasing power of the people. I sincerely hope that the government will give due consideration to this issue in the next budget.

Lt Col (r) Arshad N Qureshi

Islamabad