PTI govt to dispense Rs200b under new youth credit conspire
From Rs200bn Promise to Rs716bn Reality: The Ehsaas Programme Journey (2019‑2026)
In May 2019, the newly elected PTI government made a bold promise to the nation's poorest citizens. The federal budget would allocate Rs200 billion to a new flagship poverty alleviation programme called "Ehsaas"—Urdu for "compassion." Prime Minister Imran Khan, speaking at the launch of the National Poverty Graduation Initiative, declared that the government would "divert all the money coming from the sale of Benami properties to the anti-poverty initiative" and that the allocation would "further be enhanced in the future." It was an ambitious vision: a welfare state modelled on the principles of the Madina state, with safety nets for at least 10 million families, livelihood opportunities for 3.8 million individuals, and financial access to healthcare for 10 million families.[reference:0][reference:1]
Seven years later, that Rs200 billion promise has been transformed beyond recognition. The programme's budget has swelled to Rs716 billion for fiscal year 2025‑26—more than triple the original allocation. The Ehsaas Emergency Cash programme was hailed by the World Bank as one of the top global social protection measures during the COVID‑19 pandemic. And yet, the programme has also been buffeted by political transitions, allegations of corruption, persistent targeting inefficiencies, and a quiet merger back into the older Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) framework. This is the story of how Pakistan's most ambitious social safety net experiment unfolded—and where it stands in 2026.
🚀 The 2019 Launch: A Welfare State Vision
The Ehsaas programme was formally launched on March 27, 2019, by Prime Minister Imran Khan. It was positioned as the PTI government's signature poverty alleviation initiative—a comprehensive social safety net that would "reduce inequality, alleviate poverty, invest in people, and uplift districts lagging behind in development."[reference:2] A separate ministry was established under the Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division, headed by Dr. Sania Nishtar as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister.[reference:3]
The programme's architecture was built around four pillars and embodied 134 policy actions. Its key initiatives included Ehsaas Kafaalat (unconditional cash transfers to women), Ehsaas Aamdan (interest‑free loans for small businesses), Ehsaas Emergency Cash (pandemic relief), Ehsaas Scholarships (need‑based undergraduate support), and Ehsaas Rashan Riayat (targeted commodity subsidies).[reference:4]
In July 2019, the government announced the National Poverty Graduation Initiative—a Rs42.65 billion plan within the Ehsaas framework to "steer the poorest households out of poverty by providing them interest‑free loans, assets transfers and vocational and skills trainings."[reference:5] At the launch, 86,151 interest‑free loans worth Rs3.02 billion were distributed to deserving people across 391 simultaneous events nationwide.[reference:6]
💡 Analyst Perspective: The BISP Shadow
Ehsaas was not created from scratch. It absorbed and rebranded the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), which had been Pakistan's primary social safety net since 2008. The PTI government's decision to rename and expand BISP was politically contentious—the PPP alleged that the name change was a deliberate attempt to erase Benazir Bhutto's legacy.[reference:7] This tension would persist throughout the PTI's tenure, and after the change of government in 2022, BISP gradually reasserted its institutional identity while retaining many of the Ehsaas programme's innovations.
💰 The Rs200 Billion Allocation: A Down Payment
The original 2019 article on this site focused on the government's announcement that the budgetary allocation for Ehsaas had been increased to Rs200 billion.[reference:8] At the time, this represented a significant expansion from the previous year's allocation of Rs120 billion for social protection.[reference:9] The government also announced that funds from the sale of Benami properties would be diverted to the anti‑poverty initiative—a mechanism intended to create a sustainable revenue stream for the programme.[reference:10]
The allocation was distributed across multiple initiatives. The Kafaalat programme, which provided unconditional cash transfers to women, was the largest component. The government also allocated funds for interest‑free loans, scholarships, health cards, and the establishment of "Panahgahs" (shelters) for the homeless. The vision was expansive, but the fiscal constraints were real. Pakistan was negotiating an IMF programme, and the government was under pressure to demonstrate that its social spending was targeted and effective.
💡 Analyst Perspective: The Fiscal Context
The Rs200 billion allocation in 2019 represented approximately 0.5% of Pakistan's GDP at the time. By international standards, this was modest—comparable lower‑middle‑income countries typically spend 1‑2% of GDP on social safety nets. The real test for Ehsaas would not be the size of its budget, but whether the money actually reached the intended beneficiaries without leakage or elite capture.
🦠 The COVID‑19 Emergency Response: Ehsaas Becomes Global
The true test of the Ehsaas programme came in early 2020, when the COVID‑19 pandemic plunged Pakistan's economy into crisis. The government responded by launching the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme, a one‑time cash transfer designed to protect daily wage earners and vulnerable households affected by lockdowns. The programme was rolled out within ten days of the lockdown beginning and ultimately delivered cash grants to 14.8 million deserving households—approximately 100 million people—with total disbursements reaching Rs179 billion.[reference:11]
Prime Minister Imran Khan reported that by April 2020, Rs81 billion had been disbursed among 6.6 million deserving families, with Sindh receiving the maximum relief funds.[reference:12] The programme was administered with remarkable speed, relying on the National Socio‑Economic Registry (NSER) to identify eligible households and digital payment mechanisms to distribute funds.
The international response was effusive. The World Bank listed Ehsaas among the top global social protection measures and noted that it "ranked highly in terms of actual coverage rates compared to planned coverage rates."[reference:13] Sir Michael Barber, former Chief Advisor on Delivery to Tony Blair, published a report titled "The Ehsaas Programme: Shifting from Politics of Patronage to Politics of Performance," declaring that it "laid the foundations to become a global model for reducing poverty."[reference:14]
📋 The Key Programmes: Kafaalat, Rashan, and Scholarships
Beyond the emergency response, Ehsaas comprised several ongoing programmes that formed the backbone of Pakistan's social safety net.
Ehsaas Kafaalat: Cash Transfers for Women
The Kafaalat programme provided unconditional cash assistance to women from low‑income families. By 2021, the programme had expanded its coverage from 7 million to 10 million people.[reference:17] Each eligible woman received quarterly stipends, which were increased over time to account for inflation. In 2025, the quarterly payment stood at Rs13,500, and from January 2026, it was raised to Rs14,500.[reference:18]
Ehsaas Rashan Riayat: Targeted Commodity Subsidies
Launched in early 2022, the Rashan Riayat programme was a first‑of‑its‑kind, end‑to‑end digitised targeted commodity subsidy programme. It offered a 30% subsidy to 20 million families on the purchase of flour, pulses, cooking oil, and ghee every month.[reference:19] The programme established a network of over 15,000 merchants across Pakistan and used a mobile app to conduct subsidy transactions in real time.[reference:20] However, the programme was terminated by the incoming government in July 2022, replaced by untargeted subsidies through Utility Stores.[reference:21]
Ehsaas Scholarships and Interest‑Free Loans
In 2020, Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarships granted 50,762 need‑cum‑merit‑based scholarships to undergraduate students from low‑income backgrounds.[reference:22] The interest‑free loan programme supported more than 1 million borrowers—46% of them women—through loans worth billions of rupees.[reference:23]
🏛️ Political Transition: From Ehsaas Back to BISP
In April 2022, the PTI government was removed through a vote of no‑confidence, ushering in a new administration led by Shehbaz Sharif of the PML‑N. The change in government had immediate implications for the Ehsaas programme. The new government signalled its intention to revert to the BISP framework, and by 2023‑24, Ehsaas had largely been reabsorbed into BISP, though many of its innovations—particularly the digital payment infrastructure—were retained.
By fiscal year 2025‑26, the budget for BISP had grown to Rs716 billion, a 20% increase from the Rs592.48 billion allocated in the previous year.[reference:25] The quarterly Kafaalat payment was increased from Rs13,500 to Rs14,500 starting January 2026, sustaining 10 million enrolled households.[reference:26] The government also committed to annual inflation adjustments for unconditional cash transfer benefits to ensure that the purchasing power of vulnerable families remained stable.[reference:27]
In February 2026, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif unveiled a Rs38 billion Ramazan Package, benefiting more than 12 million families through digital payments. Each deserving family received an enhanced amount of Rs13,000, up from Rs5,000 in the previous year.[reference:28][reference:29] The package was distributed through wallets and digital banking across all four provinces, Azad Jammu Kashmir, and Gilgit Baltistan.[reference:30]
💡 Analyst Perspective: Institutional Continuity
The transition from Ehsaas back to BISP illustrates an important feature of Pakistan's social safety nets: institutional continuity despite political volatility. While the branding and political ownership of the programme changed, the core infrastructure—the NSER database, the digital payment systems, and the cash transfer mechanisms—remained largely intact. This resilience is a credit to the civil servants and technical experts who built the programme, and it ensures that millions of vulnerable families continue to receive support regardless of which party holds power.
📱 2025‑2026: Digital Transformation and Current Status
As of April 2026, the Ehsaas/BISP programme has entered a new phase of digital transformation. The 8171 Ehsaas Programme 2026 introduced a fully digital payment system, transferring funds directly to beneficiaries' bank accounts or mobile wallets such as JazzCash and Easypaisa.[reference:31] This shift has reduced the need for physical visits to payment centres, eliminated the role of middlemen, and enhanced transparency.[reference:32]
Key features of the 2026 programme include:
- Quarterly Kafaalat payment: Increased to Rs14,500 from January 2026, up from Rs13,500.[reference:33]
- Digital verification: Beneficiaries can check eligibility by sending their CNIC number to 8171 via SMS or through the 8171.bisp.gov.pk portal.[reference:34]
- NSER‑based targeting: Eligibility is determined using the National Socio‑Economic Registry, with a poverty score threshold below 32.[reference:35]
- Conditional cash transfers: BISP has surpassed its education CCT enrollment target of 10.4 million families by 400,000 and is on track to meet its nutrition CCT enrollment goal of 2.1 million.[reference:36]
From July 2024 to February 2025, BISP disbursed Rs347 billion—an 82.6% increase compared to the previous year.[reference:37] The World Bank is collaborating with BISP to enhance conditional cash transfer programmes in education, health, and nutrition, and to develop methods for identifying electricity consumers by income rather than consumption levels.[reference:38][reference:39]
⚠️ Criticisms and Challenges: Targeting Inefficiencies and Corruption
Despite its achievements, the Ehsaas/BISP programme has faced persistent criticism. Academic research and policy analyses have highlighted several structural weaknesses.
A 2023 study evaluating the effectiveness of Pakistan's Ehsaas Programme found that while it had "significantly improved household incomes and access to healthcare and education," administrative inefficiencies and corruption had "hindered its full impact, particularly in remote areas." The study suggested increasing outreach and transparency through digital platforms and audits, addressing administrative issues, and ensuring sustainable funding.[reference:41]
A 2026 analysis of Pakistan's digitally‑driven Social Safety Nets found that they suffer from "serious flaws," with 22% exclusion rate for those who qualify and 15% leakage of funds going to ineligible recipients—revealing "a systemic failure in reaching the most vulnerable."[reference:42] The problem is compounded by the fact that these programmes are "often used politically," with corruption ranging from "embezzlement by top officials" to "small scale corruption at the implementing level."[reference:43]
Other criticisms have focused on the programme's legal and constitutional standing. Ehsaas was never formally established through an act of parliament, meaning that official correspondence and banking transactions continued to be conducted in the name of BISP.[reference:44] This legal ambiguity created confusion and, some critics argued, made the programme vulnerable to political manipulation.
👤 The Sania Nishtar Factor: The Architect Departs
No discussion of the Ehsaas programme is complete without acknowledging the central role of Dr. Sania Nishtar, the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection. A cardiologist by training and a globally recognised public health expert, Dr. Nishtar was the driving force behind the programme's design and implementation. Sir Michael Barber credited her "strong leadership" and "supervision" for the programme's success.[reference:46]
Dr. Nishtar departed the government along with the PTI administration in April 2022. In the years since, she has continued to advocate for the principles that underpinned Ehsaas—particularly the importance of targeted, digitised subsidies and data‑driven poverty alleviation. Her July 2022 article lamenting the termination of the Rashan Riayat programme stands as a pointed critique of the policy reversals that followed the change in government.[reference:47]
Whether Ehsaas would have achieved more had the PTI government remained in power is a counterfactual that cannot be answered. What is clear is that the programme's most innovative features—the digital payment infrastructure, the use of NSER data for targeting, and the emphasis on transparency—have survived the political transition and are now embedded in BISP's operations.
📊 Ehsaas / BISP: 2019 vs. 2026
| Metric | 2019 (Launch Year) | 2026 (Current Status) |
|---|---|---|
| Annual Budget Allocation | Rs200 billion | Rs716 billion (BISP, FY26) |
| Quarterly Kafaalat Payment | Rs5,000 (approx.) | Rs14,500 (from Jan 2026) |
| Households Covered (Kafaalat) | ~7 million (target) | 10 million enrolled households |
| Emergency Cash Beneficiaries | N/A (pre‑COVID) | 14.8 million households (100 million people) during COVID‑19 |
| Scholarships Awarded (Annual) | Launched 2019; first cohort 2020 | 50,762 undergraduate scholarships (2020 cohort) |
| Interest‑Free Loan Borrowers | 86,151 loans (Rs3.02bn) at launch | 1 million+ borrowers (46% women) |
| Rashan Riayat Programme | Not yet launched (launched 2022) | Terminated July 2022; replaced by untargeted subsidies |
| Payment System | Mixed; significant cash disbursements | Fully digital; bank accounts, mobile wallets |
| Institutional Framework | Ehsaas (rebranded from BISP) | BISP (Ehsaas innovations retained) |
📋 The Bottom Line: Key Takeaways for 2026
💰 The Budget Has More Than Tripled: From Rs200 billion in 2019 to Rs716 billion in FY26, the financial commitment to Pakistan's social safety net has grown dramatically, reflecting both inflation and genuine expansion of coverage.
🌍 Ehsaas Became a Global Model: The COVID‑19 emergency response, which delivered cash to 14.8 million households within weeks, was praised by the World Bank as one of the top global social protection measures.
🔄 The Brand Changed, the System Endured: Despite the political transition from PTI to PML‑N, the core infrastructure—the NSER database, digital payments, and cash transfer mechanisms—survived and has been expanded.
📱 Digital Transformation Is Complete: As of 2026, payments are fully digital, with funds transferred directly to beneficiaries' bank accounts or mobile wallets, reducing leakage and empowering women.
⚠️ Targeting Inefficiencies Persist: Studies show 22% exclusion of eligible households and 15% leakage to ineligible recipients—a reminder that identifying the truly deserving remains a challenge.
👤 Sania Nishtar's Legacy Endures: Though she left government in 2022, the innovations she championed—targeted subsidies, data‑driven poverty alleviation, and digital transparency—remain embedded in BISP.
🔮 The Future Is Conditional Cash Transfers: BISP is expanding its conditional cash transfer programmes in education, health, and nutrition, with enrollment targets already exceeded in education.
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