Chitral Times Report
ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet today approved the proposal of “Ehsaas Governance and Integrity Observatory” and “Ehsaas Governance and Integrity Policy”. Speaking to the press, Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation said, “The policy is binding on the Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division (PASSD) and its ancillary organizations, namely, the Benazir Income Support Programme, Bait-ul-Mal, Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, and Trust for Voluntary Organizations and the observatory is meant to ensure tracking of compliance, and,since the key issue with policies is their implementation, that is why, the observatory and the policy have been launched together”. The purpose of the policy is to build systems that strongly discourage corruption, and to promote efficiency, transparency and accountability for results and compliance with rules. These measures are meant to make organizations involved in delivery of welfare, effective and responsive to the needs of those who they are meant to serve, and to ensure rule-based control on the use of public resources. The policy is meant to address institutionalize corruption and collusion in social welfare organizations. It outlines how board should function, which policies are crucial, and the importance of whistleblowing and conflict of interest. It also sets the institutional framework to promote integrity through risk management and assurance, maintenance of risk registers, appointment of accountability officers; error, fraud and corruption frameworks, IT security departments, strengthening of financial management and fiduciary systems,procurement systems, access to information, electronic filing, and development of workplans, and creation of credible data sets. In addition, the policy is aimed at eliminating discretionary powers. The policy also outlines that by the end of four years, PASSD will strive to useblockchain technology to ensure data transparency. The PASSD will continue to refine this policy based on lessons learned. To support the implementation of this policy, PASSD has appointed a governance focal person and will establish a “Governance and Integrity Observatory” to facilitate implementation of this Policy. The policy will be posted on the Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division’s website shortly.
