Web Desk (LTN NEWS); Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif started an Rs37.2 billion flood relief cash program on Friday. It will give each of the 1.5 million affected families in the country Rs50,000 in cash in two installments. The floods caused by heavy monsoon rains killed hundreds of people and damaged infrastructure the most in Balochistan.
Funds are given out through the Benazir Income Support Program, which works with the National Disaster Management Authority and other departments to help people.
At the start of the flood relief cash program, Prime Minister Sharif said that the NDMA chairman had promised that the cash would be distributed within three days. This would help people who have been hit by rain pay for food and other immediate needs.
In the next step, he said, a joint survey would be done with the provinces to figure out how much damage was done to crops, houses, roads, and bridges so that the repair work could be done. “We have set aside Rs37 billion to help the flood victims, and I am grateful to Finance Minister Miftah Ismail for giving us the money,” Mr. Sharif said. He said that floods caused by heavy monsoon rains hit all four provinces, but Balochistan was the worst hit.
1.5 million Families will get Rs25,000 in aid right away.
Mr. Sharif said, “The whole country needs to work together to deal with this.” The federal government and the government of each province are also working together. The help is also coming from our international partners and donors.” He said that in the third phase, the government would work with international development partners to help redesign the infrastructure so that flood damage wouldn’t happen again.
At the launching ceremony, people in the Jhal Magsi area were seen getting money through a video link. The program started out in four districts in Balochistan: Jhal Magsi, Khuzdar, Qilla Abdullah, and Lasbela.
Pakistan is one of the five countries most affected by climate change, so it had to do more than just help its people. It also had to redesign its infrastructure to prevent further damage. Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal, who is also in charge of the committee for flood relief, told the group.
Shazia Marri, Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety, said that the BISP would make sure that people got cash.
Lt Gen Akhtar Nawaz, the head of the NDMA, said that cash aid would be given to all 724 union councils in the four provinces. This would be followed by compensation for the damage caused by the floods.
Polio campaign
While giving vaccines to children at PM House to start a nationwide polio drive, Mr. Sharif said that a polio-free Pakistan was a national goal and asked people to work with polio teams to get rid of the crippling disease for good.
“This is a hard time with the recent rise in polio cases and the related security problems, but we can and will get through it,” he said, calling on federal, provincial, and district governments as well as the general public to make sure that all children under five years old get polio drops.
The current anti-polio campaign started on August 15 in Karachi and six districts in the southern part of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The national polio vaccination drive is set to start on August 22.
Mr. Sharif also led a meeting of the National Task Force for Polio Eradication, where he said that the government was committed to taking real steps to stop the spread of wild poliovirus in Pakistan.
The launch was attended by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, federal ministers Abdul Qadir Patel and Marriyum Aurangzeb, and representatives from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
