ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Wednesday inaugurated the first Ehsaas One Window Center to extend services related to all components of the programme to the poor at one platform.
The facility, which was opened in the Federal Capital, would be extended to all districts of the country, Special Assistant to PM on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection Dr. Sania Nishtar said.
“This is the basis of a welfare state,” the prime minister said as Dr. Sania Nishtar briefed him on the One Window Center housing 20 services concerning all organs of the Ehsaas programme.
The center features the services, including Ehsaas Hunar, Ehsaas Utility Store, Langar Khana, Waseela Taleem, Ehsaas Nashonuma, ATM for payment to Ehsaas Kafalat beneficiaries, One Woman One Account, Ehsaas Tahaffuz, Ehsaas Wifi Café, Ehsaas Scholarship, Ehsaas interest-free loans, NADRA office for biometric verification and others.
The prime minister, who also planted a sapling thereafter unveiling the plaque, took a round of the center and interacted with the beneficiaries as well as the officials.
At a Utility Store set up inside the center, the prime minister was apprised of how it would facilitate the needy people.
During the briefing, Dr. Sania told the prime minister that the One Window Center had multiple pillars, including Ehsaas Digital, Mobile application, Back Office, and Beneficiary Policy.
She said the nationwide survey was 91 percent complete, and after integration, it would be accessible to all Ehsaas organs to know the eligibility and needs of an applicant.
She said earlier, there was a discrepancy in the process as the agencies were using varying eligibility methods, influential families availing the benefits while others used to remain deprived of their rights.
She said earlier the registration of disabled persons was difficult and lengthy procedure; however, the database would make it easier, also enabling the agencies concerned to know their needs like a wheelchair.
Dr. Sania said through One Window Digital, the frequently asked questions of the people regarding scholarships, loans, etc., would be responded to in simple Urdu.
Moreover, the mobile application would enable the people to locate the nearest Panagah or Langar Khana, particularly for the benefit of the volunteers.
During the briefing, the prime minister remarked that the education scholarships being offered by the provincial and federal governments should be consolidated at a single database for the benefit of students.
He said the database to be established on the basis of a nationwide survey would help the government know who was availing Zakat.
He said the database would also enable the government to extend the direct subsidy to needy people to make them avail the commodities reduced rates through the Utility Stores.