By Imtiaz Hussain
KHAIRPUR: A stakeholder engagement session was held in Khairpur to brief participants on the Sindh government’s Mumta Programme, aimed at improving maternal and child health outcomes across the province.
The programme, run under the Sindh Social Protection Authority, is currently active in 22 districts of Sindh and provides financial assistance of Rs41,000 over a 1,000-day period to eligible pregnant women and mothers of children up to two years of age.
Officials said during the briefing that immediate registration is required for eligible women, and a valid mobile phone number must be provided to receive payment notifications. They added that beneficiaries are able to collect payments without deductions once notified, while regular medical check-ups from pregnancy until the child reaches two years of age are mandatory.
General Manager Operations Muhammad Sohaib said the programme in Khairpur is being implemented through PPHI-supported hospitals, with the main objective of ensuring institutional deliveries and reducing unsafe home births.
Specialist Huma Halepoto said the five-year project, running from 2023 to 2027, began as a pilot in Tharparkar and Umerkot in 2021. She said eligibility criteria include a minimum age of 18 years, possession of a valid NADRA CNIC and residency in one of the 22 targeted districts.
District Manager Zahid Dahot shared local data, stating that trained staff are working across all eight talukas of Khairpur. He said the district’s target for 2026 is to register 71,198 pregnant women, while 23,000 women had already been registered in the past two months, including a record 1,800 registrations in a single day.
The session was attended by officials from the social welfare, population welfare, local government and health departments, along with programme representatives and members of the public. It concluded with a question-and-answer session in which officials responded to queries and emphasised the need for greater public awareness of the initiative.
