KARACHI: Caregivers of children up to five years of age in Sindh will receive Rs3,000 every quarter for growth monitoring, nutrition counselling and school readiness, as the provincial government rolls out a Rs14 billion Early Childhood Development (ECD) programme.
The decision was taken on May 6 at the third board meeting of the Sindh Social Protection Authority (SSPA), chaired by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah.
The board approved a package of initiatives to expand the province’s social safety net, strengthen maternal and child welfare, and provide seasonal income support to rural women.
The ECD project, funded by KfW, a German state-owned investment and development bank, will target 885,000 children aged between one month and five years.
Murad approves Rs14bn early childhood development initiative; quarterly payment of Rs3,000 each to benefit over 885,000 kids, meeting told
According to a statement issued by the CM House, the meeting was attended, among others, by provincial ministers Dr Azra Fazal, Saeed Ghani and Syed Sardar Shah, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, board members Haris Gazdar, Sono Khan, Shireen Narejo, Amar Habib Khan, Planning and Development chairman Najam Shah, Finance Secretary Fayaz Jatoi, Social Protection Secretary Khadim Channa and SSPA CEO Irshad Sodhar.
The initiative is part of a broader push to improve nutrition, reduce poverty and strengthen long-term human development.
The meeting also approved upgrades to the Mamta maternal health cash transfer programme.
The programme is currently operational in 22 districts with a Rs56bn budget, covering more than one million registered beneficiaries.
To improve predictability for poor households, the board adopted a Hybrid Predictable Payment Model that will ensure fixed-schedule cash disbursements even if a health visit is slightly delayed.
In a pro-poor adjustment, mothers will receive full payments for pregnancy or for their youngest child, plus 75 per cent of the conditional cash transfer for an older child under two, ensuring no vulnerable child is excluded.
Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2026.
