ISLAMABAD: The Senate was informed on Friday that poverty would reduce by 2 per cent in the country during the current fiscal year due the ‘Kafaalat Programme’ initiatives taken by the government under its flagship ‘Ehsaas’ project.
“Field work of Household Integrated Economic Survey (HIES) to be conducted in 2020-21, ” Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said during the question-hour, on behalf of Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar.
He said the HIES was last conducted in 2018-19 and based on its estimates around 21.9 percent of the population was living below the poverty line as compared to 24.3 percent in 2015-16, indicating decline in poverty.
After 2018-19, he said the HIES had not been conducted and there was no latest official estimate of poverty to verify or deny the claim that the poverty had increased during the tenure of the incumbent government.