Islamabad:Poverty alleviation and social safety minister Syed Imran Ahmed Shah reviewed the delivery of medical financial assistance to underprivileged patients during a visit to the National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine here, underscoring the federal government’s push to expand and streamline support under Pakistan Baitul Mal (PBM).
After arrival, the minister was briefed by NIRM Executive Director Dr Shaista Habibullah on the institute’s performance, patient care services and the scope of assistance provided through PBM’s Individual Financial Assistance Programme.
He visited the prosthetics laboratory, examined the process for manufacturing and supplying artificial limbs, orthoses, hearing aids and other assistive devices and declared NIRM’s rehabilitation services indispensable for persons with disabilities and individuals with special needs.
Shah said the PBM’s Individual Financial Assistance Programme had been made more transparent, efficient and wide-ranging under the current government. He disclosed that between 2022 and 2025, around 2,267 deserving patients received treatment at NIRM and rehabilitation support through PBM, with the spending totaling around Rs278 million.
The minister said priority assistance at NIRM covered major surgical procedures, prosthetic limbs, implants, hearing aids and speech and physical rehabilitation, while the maximum financial support ceiling had been raised from Rs1 million to Rs1.5 million.
He said the government’s foremost objective was to ensure that no eligible patient is denied life-saving surgery or essential prosthetic care due to lack of funds. Shah noted that PBM’s medical assistance budget had increased from Rs227 million in the previous fiscal year to nearly Rs280 million in the current year, reflecting a stronger focus on healthcare and social safety nets.
Emphasising accountability, he said financial aid was approved only after thorough verification, medical evaluation and hospital validation. The minister ordered the establishment of a Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal facilitation desk at NIRM, alongside improvements in online case tracking and the introduction of a fully computerised administrative system.
