Islamabad: SAPM Dr. Sania Nishtar visited Tank and South Waziristan today to meet the four tribal jirgas. She launched the Ehsaas survey registration in South Waziristan. The survey is 65% complete in Tank district. She briefed the elders and influentials of tribal jirgas on the purpose and approach of ongoing Ehsaas survey. “Ehsaas has launched a new digital survey in southern districts of KP including Tank and South Waziristan to benefit deserving households through Ehsaas. Tank and South Waziristan are the most underprivileged districts of KP with high rates of poverty, malnutrition and infant mortality. To address the needs of the vulnerable, the survey approach is being accelerated across the southern tribal districts of KP. With the support of local teachers under the technical handholding of Ehsaas, we are trying to complete the survey in these areas at the earliest”, said Dr. Sania.
According to Ehsaas policy, the survey will ensure the inclusion of poor families in several Ehsaas initiatives- Kafaalat, Waseela-eTaleem Digital, Undergraduate Scholarship, Amdan, Interest Free Loan and Nashonuma.
“I appeal to tribal Jirgas to facilitate survey teams when they go door to door in the region to collect household data. Poverty profiling of the households is being done through a computer aided digital system and would be completed in the next few months,” Dr. Sania stated while addressing Jirgas, adding that government has executed the new Ehsaas survey on apolitical basis so that no deserving family is left out from the flagship social protection programme.
Replying a question, Dr. Sania said that the “Ehsaas National Socio-economic Registry Survey is apolitical and nondiscriminatory in nature and has been rolled out nationwide to benefit the vulnerable irrespective of their religion, ethnicity or area. Tribal people should participate in the survey to get benefits from a multitude of conditional and unconditional cash transfer programmes under Ehsaas.”
She thanked the local teachers for doing a commendable job in executing survey enumerations. They are responsible citizens, which is why we have engaged them in this very sensitive responsibility of household data collection. “Helping the vulnerable populations and lifting the lagging districts is one of the main priority goals of Ehsaas,” Dr. Sania concluded.
Earlier in the morning, Dr. Sania held a press conference with the local press and media in Tank to describe the methodology and digital approach adopted for the Ehsaas survey. She also answered the questions of the local media regarding Ehsaas survey and several cash transfers under Ehsaas for the underprivileged. The trip also featured visits to households in Wana, South Waziristan and Christian Hospital Colony, Tank to examine the digital registration of families through the survey. According to Ehsaas policy, when the survey nears completion in each district, the Ehsaas Registration Desks are opened in each district being surveyed to ensure the inclusion of left out families.