Karachi, November 24, 2021 (PPI-OT):Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has termed the Sindh government’s program the Health and Nutrition Conditional Cash Transfer (H and N CCT) as a historic step and a revolutionary initiative for public health in the province, adding that PPP governments have always stood by the common man.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, while addressing the inaugural ceremony of the Health and Nutrition Conditional Cash Transfer (H and N CCT) said that serving the common men of the country is the manifesto of PPP. “We do not promise that everything will be good if there is a PPP government, but we do promise that if the people are in trouble, we will work day and night to address their issues,” he added.
Chairman PPP said that it was the history of his Party that it had always worked for the welfare and development of the masses. The Land Reform program, initiated by the Quaid-e-Awam Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, paved an economic revolution in the country. When Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s government introduced the Lady Health Workers Program (LHWP), it was criticized from inside and outside the country, adding that after the launch of the LHWP, Bangladesh, India and several other nations replicated that Program, which proved to be successful for them as well.
He recalled that when the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) was being launched during the previous PPP government, it was also opposed by saying that this would only train people begging, but President Asif Ali Zardari, despite all the unwarranted criticism, personally oversaw the program with a determination and made sure that it started from the first year of the People’s government.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari further said that poor women of Pakistan got financial assistance through BISP at a time when there was economic recession all over the world. “The effects of the global crisis were felt in Pakistan as well, but PPPP did not leave the people alone in difficult situations”, he added.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that financial aid to poor women under BISP was multi-pronged-project, which included Wasela-eRozgar, Wasela-e-Sehat, and Wasela-e-Taleem as other components of it. “BISP, in fact, was the manifesto of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, which the PPP opponents could not roll back even though they wanted to, he said adding that that the first poverty survey in the country was conducted during the last PPP government, and the only social security program active in the country at the moment was introduced by a PPP government.
PPP Chairman said that another ideal project introduced by the Sindh’s pro-masses government is People’s Poverty Reduction Program, under which poor women are provided interest-free loans for starting a business. The program has so far benefited 1.3 million women, and they are now ensuring the economic stability of their families. He pointed out that the recovery rate of the said program is 99% while banks issuing loans to big business are faced with the recovery issue. “It also proves that the women of Sindh can revolutionize the whole economy with a little help,” he added.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that a few years ago there was a lot of criticism on the issue of neonatal-mortality and infant mortality, but the figures from USAID and other similar agencies now show a better situation in Sindh. He, explaining the statistics, said that between 2013 and 2018, the neonatal-mortality rate in Punjab was 19%, adding that during the same period, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa increased by 2%, while Sindh decreased by 30%. During the 2013 and 2018, the under-five mortality rate in Punjab decreased by 17%, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by 7% and in Sindh by 19%. “It is clear from figures that the PPP’s Sindh government has done better than other provinces, but it is still not enough for us,” he added.
Chairman PPP said that after 2018, there is an economic crisis in the country, and inflation has also increased significantly. “The greatest loss of poverty and inflation is in the countryside. Mothers and children have been hit hard by the crisis.” Talking on the program launched by the Sindh government Health and Nutrition Conditional Cash Transfer (H and N CCT), Chairman PPP said that under this program, the focus will be on mother and child health.
The program will focus on the baby’s first 1,000 days, and the first day begins with the mother’s pregnancy. He, sharing the more details about the project, pointed out that Rs.1000 would be given to the pregnant woman on every routine checkup in the hospital, while Rs.4000 would be given on the birth of a child in the health center, adding that this way all necessary medical and nutritional requirements would be ensured for the health of the child and the mother.
He further said that under the Program, Rs 20,000 would be spent on each mother and child. “The program will be launched in the first phase in two districts, Tharparkar and Umerkot, and will be extended across Sindh over the next two years to benefit to one million mothers,” he announced. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho and other Ministers, Advisors, Assembly members and Party leaders were also present on the occasion.
For more information, contact:
PPP Media Cell (Sindh)
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)
Peoples Secretariat Shikarpur Colony,
Behind Mazar-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Karachi, Pakistan
Cell: +92-305-3370383
Email: contact@ppp-tu.com
Website: https://www.ppp.org.pk