Securitized Digital Governance, Cash Transfers, and the Expansion of Social Protection in Pakistan

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ID: 314329
2026
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Abstract
Abstract Historically, social protection in Pakistan has been characterized by a lack of capacity and endemic inefficiency, with a relatively rudimentary system of public provision being supplemented by an increasingly extensive private sector. Outlining the contours of Pakistan’s regime of social protection, this chapter examines how resource constraints, inter-provincial disputes over jurisdiction and governance, and bureaucratic inefficiency have impeded attempts at improving protection. In this context, the chapter argues that the COVID-19 pandemic has created new opportunities for Pakistan to expand its regime of social protection, with the challenges posed by the pandemic legitimizing efforts to further develop innovative approaches to welfare that had hitherto been implemented on a smaller scale. In particular, the chapter focuses on how two new welfare programs, the Ehsas Emergency Cash Program (providing cash transfers to the poor) and the Sehat Sahulat Program (providing health insurance in two of Pakistan’s four provinces), were rapidly scaled up and introduced in Pakistan as part of a broader attempt to manage the effects of the pandemic. While both new programs represent the most significant expansion to Pakistan’s regime of social protection in recent history, the chapter emphasizes how significant challenges remain, in terms of both the design of these initiatives and their long-term economic and political sustainability.
Reference Key
openalex_W7161999004 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Hassan Javid, Sameen A. Mohsin Ali, Umair Javed
Journal Oxford University Press eBooks
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197761465.013.0008
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197761465.013.0008
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