In the recent news, Stanford University has published a paper on how the world can learn from Imran Khan’s poverty alleviation ‘Ehsaas Program’. Stanford University’s paper appreciated the Ehsaas Program in the article named, “Frameworks for a Developmental Welfare State: Lessons from Pakistan’s Ehsaas Program”. PTI’s government had been implementing the program to ease the living conditions of the most impoverished and most vulnerable segment of the population.
Stanford University’s Paper Reports Ehsaas Program as the Best Anti-Poverty Initiative
Pakistan’s Ehsaas Program has been proclaimed as the best anti-poverty initiative by the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSIIS) at Stanford University. According to their working paper, Pakistan’s Ehsaas Program is one of the leading anti-poverty efforts to uplift the country’s most vulnerable citizens. It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) launched the Ehsaas Program in 2018 under Imran Khan’s vision of a welfare state.
Furthermore, the initiative of the Ehsaas Program provides a diverse set of services for vulnerable Pakistanis, including unconditional cash transfers, targeted subsidies, and increased health and nutritional coverage. “We study the various policy, programmatic, and implementation reforms were undertaken during this period and explore the lessons these reforms offer for global policymakers.” said the report.
Moreover, the report also mentioned, “In particular, we point to the importance of good leadership, building strong institutions, effectively using data and technology, and of using an integrated, inclusive approach to anti-poverty.” Stanford University’s paper added that their conclusions suggest that these reforms have facilitated the program to successfully scale influence, boost transparency, and enhance the efficiency of its interventions, whilst building amongst the beneficiaries and program administrators.
PTI Laid the Foundation of a Welfare State for the First Time in Pakistan
In addition to this, citing the Stanford University study, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairperson, Imran Khan stated that his government laid the foundation of a welfare state for the ‘first time’ in Pakistan’s history. Taking to Twitter, the former prime minister stated that the former PTI government grappled with “stabilizing a bankrupt economy”, the International Monetary Fund program, the Covid pandemic, and the commodity super cycle, yet “still managed to lay the foundation of a welfare state”.
While grappling with stabilising a bankrupt economy, IMF programme, Covid 19 and commodity super cycle, our govt still managed to lay the foundation of a welfare state for the first time in our history.https://t.co/Y3gwS1iPxB
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) June 22, 2022
Read more: Government Increases Ehsaas Beneficiaries Stipend
