Dr Sania Nishtar asks citizens to participate in Ehsaas survey

Islamabad : Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) Dr. Sania Nishtar together with Ehsaas team officials visited Peshawar today to track Ehsaas Survey interventions rolled out three months back as part of the new survey model in KP.

Under the new Ehsaas Survey Model that was introduced in the province in August 2020, two pilot districts Karak and Malakand were selected to execute the new design of the survey. The survey has successfully been completed in these two pilot districts in record time of 12 weeks with impressive data quality. Following this, the survey has also been rolled out in Kohat, Hangu, Bannu, Peshawar, D.I. Khan, Tank and Swabi districts of KP in the first phase. The survey in the remaining districts of KP will be covered in the second phase. According to the plan, the entire survey exercise will be completed across the entire province by April 2021.

Briefing media at the Ehsaas Survey site, SAPM Dr. Nishtar said, “Through the new approach, the data is being collected through teachers in KP who have been trained to act as enumerators in designated enumeration areas. The new survey is being conducted through a fully computer aided approach. The entire survey activity has been initiated in close collaboration with the Provincial government of KP, Provincial Education Department of KP and the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. I am tracking the survey activities everyday with my team to ensure timely completion.”

Instead of outsourcing to NGOs, the end to end digital survey is being executed across the province through the government system. An android-based digital application designed for geotagged survey are being utilized to capture real-time household data for this purpose. This end to end digital approach has been adopted to reduce data processing time, increase efficiency, and ensure timely availably of data from the field for analysis. It will also reduce errors.

Enumerators go door to door and accumulate information at the doorstep. Owing to the technical nature of computerized Ehsaas survey, massive training of master trainers, trainers, enumerators, and supervisors is an important element of the Ehsaas survey methodology. This is also critical to ensure survey quality. While in the provincial capital, Dr. Nishtar was also briefed about the progress of an ongoing Ehsaas National Socioeconomic Registry Survey operations in various districts of KP. Following the briefing, she went to Ehsaas Survey site at Sikandarabad, Peshawar to oversee the ongoing Ehsaas survey activities. At the site, she made an appeal to families across the country.

“Please collaborate with survey staff when they come to your houses and help them access data, which becomes the basis of the socioeconomic status and that determines eligibility/entitlements with regard to the Ehsaas programme,” she said.