Kafaalat Programme launch: PM Imran says laying foundation for state of Madina.

ISLAMABAD -- Prime Minister Imran Khan said initiatives such as the Ehsaas Kafaalat Programme were part of the effort to lay foundation for the 'state of Madina' - a goal he has promised to achieve ever since coming into power.

Addressing the Ehsaas Kafaalat Programme's launching ceremony here in the federal capital, PM Imran said divine blessing from God was necessary for an initiative to succeed. "I'm very happy that there's now a proper system being developed," he added.

"There's a huge number of people who undergo challenges, who face difficulties in feeding their children. Setting up this system was necessary for money to go to them," the premier noted.

"There are two things very important for women. Those of them who are in the weakest sector, opening a bank account is very important. It's an amazing thing [because] the money that was stolen won't be anymore.

"Secondly, those bringing the card can buy from the utility stores and we can provide for them through utility stores as the system goes ahead," he said.

The prime minister stressed that his primary goal was to "make Pakistan the state that it should have been" from the start, "a state that takes responsibility for that [poor] group that the world has forgotten and left behind".

He reminisced about how the country was growing when it was in its infancy. "I keep saying this over and over [that] there's one reason why Pakistan was progressing fast in the 1950s, there's one reason why we couldn't reach that place.

"This land has God-given resources, the people are talented, the people do a lot but the country didn't go ahead, it was left behind. The biggest reason is that no country can progress where there are a few rich people and a sea of poor.

"A country progresses when its rich uplift the poor. China did that for its 700 million people in 30 years," he said, referring to Pakistan's economic and trade ally that is also part of the giant infrastructure and business...