DODOMA: THE enrolment of beneficiaries of the Productive Social Safety Net (PSSN) of the Tanzania Social Action Fund – TASAF is done transparently, with no favours, the government has said.
Deputy Minister of State, President’s Office, Public Services Management and Good Governance, Mr Ridhiwani Kikwete disclosed that the identification and enrolment process is a thorough meeting chaired by the village/street (for mainland Tanzania) and Shehia (in Zanzibar).
He issued the clarification to members of the Parliamentary Committee on Governance, Constitution and Legal Affairs during the presentation of the TASAF performance report for the March-June 2023 period, at a meeting held in Dodoma.
The deputy minister’s remark was in response to questions and suggestions aired by committee members regarding the selection procedures of PSSN beneficiaries, their eligibility as well as Public Work Programmes (PWP) being implemented by TASAF.
“The process for identification and enrolment of beneficiaries is conducted in a transparent way, members of local communities are engaged in identifying the extremely poor and vulnerable households through their public meetings,” he stated.
He also informed the parliamentary committee on the success that has been recorded through PSSN programmes, noting that a good number of households have managed to upgrade their economic conditions.
“So far, there are 78,889 households that have qualified to graduate from the programme; however, the challenge is that the majority of them are worried about the exercise and they fear returning to poverty,” said the deputy minister.
In an effort to mitigate the challenge, TASAF is continuing to educate beneficiaries on entrepreneurship skills for them to be able to sustain their economies after graduation.
According to Mr Kikwete, TASAF is currently conducting an assessment on the economic standard to beneficiaries in 72 Programme Authority Areas (PAAs).
The committee’s Chairperson, Dr Joseph Mhagama, commended government and TASAF for the continued efforts to uplift economies of the vulnerable poor households, suggesting the need to ensure quality and standards of all the public work projects that are being implemented.
Minister of State, President’s Office, Public Services Management and Good Governance George Simbachawene told the committee that the government and TASAF will work on the suggestions for the programme for effective delivery of the intended target.
