Sania Nishtar briefs four tribal Jirgas in South Waziristan

ISLAMABAD, Jan 09 (DNA): SAPM Dr. Sania Nishtar visited Tank and South
Waziristan on Saturday 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.

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