April 1, 2020 - Islamabad: Prime Minister has launched Ehsaas Emergency Cash program in the context of the economic hardship being experienced by the vulnerable due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis. The program covers 12 million families; 12,000 per family and the total budget for this initiative is Rs. 144 billion. Speaking at the occasion, PM Imran Khan said, “The financial assistance under this program is meant to help people in need particularly labourers and daily wagers to buy rations so that their families don’t go hungry”. An SMS campaign will be the entry point to identify these beneficiaries. Through an aggressive communication campaign, citizens will be informed that they can send an SMS on 8171 or they can visit Ehsaas Emergency Cash web-portal to check their eligibility status. The portal can be accessed here.PM inaugurated the initiative by texting his CNIC number to 8171. “To address inclusion errors, special data analytics on defined parameters (Government officials, those owning cars, and those with history of multiple foreign travel) will be applied by NADRA on all categories of potential beneficiaries”, said Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the PM on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation.