Pakistan includes transgenders in financial assistance programme

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government has decided to include its transgender community in mega social safety and cash assistance programme “Ehsaas Kafalat.”

According to the decision taken at a board meeting, all the members of the transgender community holding valid Computerised National Identity Cards (CNIC) will be eligible for the monthly cash assistance under the programme. They will be provided a monthly stipend of Rs2,000 (Dh46.14) along with a savings bank account. The decision has been taken in view of the hardships faced by the community due to the pandemic.

The representatives of the community, various rights groups and non-government organisations (NGOs) have been calling for an immediate short and long-term measures for transgenders. The already isolated community was in virtual quarantine with little means to survive, they felt.

The board said the all transgenders in a household will be declared as Kafaalat beneficiaries in order to bring them back into the mainstream and make them active members of society.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, there are 10,418 transgenders in Pakistan. However, the award-winning transgender social activist and political worker Nayyab Ali estimates they are around 500,000 in the country.

Ehsaas education stipends announced

The board meeting also ratified enhancement of Ehsaas’ education stipends to secondary and higher secondary level students.

The new conditional cash transfer programme aims at helping underprivileged families to educate their primary school going children till higher secondary level.

The programme will be commencing from next month in all districts, it was further decided.

With an additional emphasis for girls to access secondary and higher secondary education, the enhanced Ehsaas education stipends offer higher stipend amounts for them in comparison to boys.

The girls will get Rs4,000 (Dh923.17) per quarter and boys get Rs3,500 (Dh80.70). The programme design allows all payments to be made biometrically to mothers of enrolled children.

While elaborating various contours of the programme, Prime Minister’s Special Assistance on Social Protection Dr Sania Nishtar said, “According to Ehsaas strategy post-COVID-19, the secondary and higher education stipends will empower low-income households with improved access to education till 12th grade.” The World Bank in its report released last month on global social protection response to COVID-19 had listed the Ehsaas Emergency Cash programme among top four social protection interventions globally in terms of number of people covered.