Islamabad, September 26, 2022 (PPI-OT):Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal has said that the government is committed to protect the affected people despite the fact that the scale of the disaster is huge. He was addressing a roundtable conference in Islamabad on Monday.

The minister said that the recent flood has not only claimed lives, but also affected infrastructure and livelihood at a mega scale. He said that the government has taken a number of initiatives as federal and provincial governments have been doing rescue operations since the flood came into the surface.

In order to implement the rehabilitation plan for the flood-affected people, the minister engaged the country’s top economists, key development stakeholders and donors before sending a comprehensive rehabilitation plan to the Prime Minister for the approval.

Dr. Abid Qayyum Suleri, heading Pakistan’s premier policy research think-tank, Sustainable Development Policy Institute suggested the government to start the rehabilitation process at the district level which he believed is a more effective way to start the rehabilitation process.

Aqdas Afzal, Program Director at Habib University emphasised the importance of Benazir Income Support Programme BISP which is effective for the flood-affected people and suggested the government to link it with the index. The minister appreciated the ideas and assured the participants to incorporate their ideas with the rehabilitation plan before sending it to the Prime Minister.

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