Pakistan’s Social Policy Response to Covid-19: Expansion of the Ehsaas Program

Abstract

Pakistan, a developing country with the fifth largest population in the world, was already developing the Ehsaas program, an umbrella initiative of 134 policies and programs focused on the inclusion and uplift of marginalized people, before the advent of Covid-19. Being a neighbor of China and Iran and having high frequencies of trade and travel with these two countries, Pakistan was badly affected by the contagion. For combating the pan-demic, the key programs under the Ehsaas umbrella included emergency cash transfers, rashan (food packages) distribution programs for vulnerable families, disbursement from the Prime Minister’s Covid-19 Fund for those who lost their jobs or livelihoods, the langar (meal centers) program, wage subsidies for laid-off formal and informal sector workers, subsidized loans for firms and self-employed workers and utility bill waivers. This report offers an overview of Pakistan’s social policy response measures taken up until September 2020. It focuses on the social policy measures specifically taken under the umbrella of the Ehsaas program to protect vulnerable people and segments of the population who were pushed below the poverty line by this global crisis. Overall, Pakistan’s social policy response involved multiple measures aimed at mitigating the socioeconomic impact of Covid-19.