Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan offered to share the country’s cash transfer programme with India, after a report in The Express Tribune claimed that 84 per cent of Indian households suffered a decline in monthly income following the nationwide lockdown imposed to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
In a tweet, Mr. Khan said, “Acc[ording] to this report, 34% of households across India will not be able to survive for more than a week without add assistance. I am ready to offer help & share our successful cash transfer prog[ramme], lauded internationally for its reach & transparency, with India.”
He also claimed that his government had successfully transferred Pakistani 120 billion rupees (Rs 5,533 crore) to over one crore families in nine weeks.
The newspaper cited a study titled “How Are Indian Households Coping Under the Covid-19 Lockdown? 8 Key Findings”, carried out by the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago and the Mumbai-based Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy.
In March, Pakistan launched the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme, to provide urgent payments to 1.2 crore households. The programme offered immediate relief in the form of cash worth $75 (INR 5,676) to each household.
