Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday approved a social protection framework for the vulnerable segments of the society, ensuring that they were protected against certain issues affecting them.
The comprehensive social protection framework is aimed at overcoming the challenges of poverty, health, stunted growth, education and would enable the youth to realise their potential and extricate themselves out of the generational poverty traps.
Chairing a meeting of the Economic Advisory Council, the prime minister also approved the policy recommendations for a medium-term structural reform framework of the economy, read a statement issued by the PM Office media wing.
Finance Minister Asad Umar, Minister for Planning Khusro Bakhtiar, premier’s adviser Dr Ishrat Hussain, former State Bank governor Syed Saleem Raza, Lahore School of Economics professor Dr Naved Hamid, economist Sakib Sherani, Associate Professor at LUMS Dr Faisal Bari, and other senior officials were present during the meeting.
The meeting was briefed on the policy recommendations for mobilising finance for development, enhancing exports and strengthening SMEs, tax reforms, job creation impact of major policy actions and social protection priorities in Pakistan, in the light of the deliberated proposals of the working groups of the Economic Advisory Council.
The policy recommendations were finalised to focus on acceleration of underutilised areas including agriculture, housing, small and medium enterprises in terms of incentives, reliance on export-oriented and labour intensive growth, reversal of anti-export bias, enhanced system automation and use of technology, transparency in trade regime, facilitating importers, job creation through skill development, ease of doing business through business-friendly environment while focusing on productivity and moving on technology sophistication.
Finalisation of these policies is for laying the foundation of a sustainable, inclusive, job creating and export-oriented economic growth strategy as part of the government’s 100 Days Plan, it added.
Social protection frame work for the vulnerable class of society announced by the PM do not elaborate the policy frame work, allocation of financial resources, time frame for the execution of projects in this context. it seem that little home work has been done on this end. On a hunch idea, 10 % of population fall under this head, including persons mentally retarded, blind, dump, physical disabilities etc. Some of these need immediate attention in terms of shelter, their education, food, free traveling, vocational training, job creation and above all to give respect in the society. In U.K such persons are treated as VIPs and are provided facilities which one cannot think of in Pakistan.