Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced his latest program, ‘Ehsaas Nashonuma’ which as aimed at helping new mothers via a cash transfer which will be focused on preventing stunting in the growth of young children as well as evading malnutrition across the country.
Following the initiative, the government is set to provide a stipend to new mothers for the next 2 years, providing the certainty of adequate development and nutrition. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, Dr. Sania Nishtar, announced that the government’s Ehsaas Nashonuma program is set to target stunting of children and will be working on making it a non-redundant issue by aiding families that need assistant. She also stated that approximately 40% of children face fatality risks due to malnutrition.
In order to counter the crisis which is plaguing our youth, young mothers and the future of the country, which is inevitably, the young children, the government has set its sight on taking action. For the first 2 years of a child’s development, the Ehsaas program will make sure that the vulnerable children are given the nutritional care they need, in order to ensure their growth and strength. Dr. Nishtar has emphasised how this crisis of poor nutrition and the snowball of issues that follow need to be addressed in order to be bettered.
“Ending malnutrition has long been a priority for the Prime Minister.
In his first speech to the nation, he held up a CT scan of a child to
show that stunting does not just affect physical but also the
development of the brain.”
In a press conference, Dr. Nishar declared that if a boy is born, the mother will be paid a quaterly stipend of Rs. 1,500 and if a girl is born the mother will be given the stipend of Rs. 2,000. The program has been launched in 9 districts of the country, currently 8 centres are active and soon 33 shall become functional this month.