Towards Prosperity: Here’s How Ehsaas Program Can Change the Lives of 14 Million People

What is the biggest concern of an average Pakistani citizen today? The answer is simple and  straight: finding a job or earning a decent living is by far one of the biggest worries. In Pakistan millions struggle to make ends meet, some are not able to afford education for the kids while others do not even have a roof over their head. The burgeoning levels of poverty are frightening because it is slowly taking the majority of the population in its fold.

To address this increasing concern, the Government of Pakistan has launched a unique initiative called the Ehsaas program, with a vision to support the underprivileged.  Generating employment opportunities for young individuals &  poor and marginalized communities to address poverty is one of the pillars of the Ehsaas Strategy of the Government of Pakistan. The Government’s poverty graduation approach combines elements of social mobilization, livelihoods development, and financial inclusion to move households out of extreme poverty and into sustainable graduation.

The strategy is to start with social protection but then to move people up the ladder of prosperity, through asset transfers, training, social services and community infrastructure, interest-free loans and links to microcredit, until they are out of poverty. Based on this approach, the Ehsaas National Poverty Graduation Initiative (NPGI) has been launched this year in July. The initiative aims to graduate the poorest households out of poverty and set them on a course of economic and social prosperity.

Its components include:

i) asset transfers;

ii) interest-free loans,

iii) vocational and skills training to make assets productive.

Interest-free loan is a major component of NPGI which is being executed by the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund through its partner organizations. PPAF has led such initiatives in the past as well for the economic empowerment of people; however, this time the scale is going to be much bigger.

The interest-free loan component of NPGI is being implemented through 24 partner organizations of PPAF and Akhuwat Islamic Microfinance The initiative was launched in July 2019 and during the first two months, 207,501 people have benefitted from this initiative. This is turning out to be a major relief for the common man because normally loans are given at high-interest rates by private banks. Paying off the loan in itself might be very difficult, let alone paying the interest on top of it.

From a rickshaw driver to a fruit seller to a small farmer, any Pakistani national  up to 60 years, possessing a valid CNIC, belonging to the district where the program is already running and aiming business expansion or  planning to set up a small business to create an income stream for themselves through these loans is eligible to apply for an Interest free loan up to Rs 75,000. This is a substantial amount and therefore it won’t be wrong to say that such loans can prove to be life-changing for many because it will finally give the poor a chance to pursue their dreams.

The cherry on top being that a loan can be acquired by an individual up to 3 times. This shall help them to gain stability along with the sustainability. During the next four years, over 2 Million households in 100 districts of the country will be made part of the interest-free loan program which will directly impact more than 14 million people across Pakistan.

Not only will 2 million people be targeted but a conscious effort has been made to give 50% representation to women. They are equal parts of society and play a significant role in running household affairs. Thus through the Ehsaas program women will get an equal opportunity to come forward.

How to Apply for the Interest-Free Loan

All details relevant to the interest-free loan program are available on the PPAF website, ppaf.org.pk. The information for districts, loan centers, names of implementing partner Organizations (POs) and eligibility criteria for potential borrowers may be accessed here.

The distribution of 80,000 interest-free loans every month signifies that the lives of 80,000 households can be transformed every month. This means millions are moving out of the circle of poverty and entering the circle of prosperity. For Pakistan, this could be a huge game-changer and probably the right step towards a Naya Pakistan!