By Faiza Tehseen ISLAMABAD, Feb. 02 (INP-WealthPK): The government has launched a number of initiatives under its flagship Ehsaas poverty alleviation programme to support the poorest segments of the society. One of these projects was the National Poverty Graduation Initiative (NPGI) launched in 2019 with the financial assistance of the Asian Development Bank and the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) to provide interest-free loans and vocational training to the youth to help them start their own businesses. NPGI is being executed by the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) and Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP). The focal points of NPGI are the distribution of assets concerning business development, and the provision of interest-free loans and vocational training to the youth. The programme has so far benefited 16.28 million people, including youth, transgender persons and physically-challenged people. Since July 2019 to March 2021, at least 1.2 million loans worth Rs44.42 billion have been disbursed through 1,100 loan distribution centres in about 110 districts. During July to March 2021, a total of 490,368 loans were disbursed. Around 80,000 more loans will be disbursed nationwide under the initiative. These loans are targeting the youth as they form a major segment of the Pakistan’s population. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government has also started a number of initiatives to ameliorate the suffering of the people hit hard by the frequent lockdowns imposed to stem the virus. According to a report of the National Institute of Population Studies (NIPS), before the Covid-19 pandemic the working population of Pakistan was 55.74 million, which declined by 35.04 million during the pandemic, which means that people either lost their jobs or were not able to find work. The programmes launched by the government during the last two years include the Prime Minister’s Youth Entrepreneurship programme, Prime Minister’s Hunarmand Skills for All, Ehsaas Emergency Cash, Ehsaas Kafaalat, Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarship, Ehsaas Nashonuma, Ehsaas Langars, Ehsaas Interest-Free Loans, Ehsaas Amdan and several others.