By CHARITY MOONGA –
GOVERNMENT has increased funding for the social cash transfer system up to K180 million with a view to fighting poverty and hunger.
Community Development, Mother and Child Health Minister Emerine Kabanshi said in Parliament that currently, the social cash transfer scheme was benefitting 145,000 households.
In 2015, K180. 588 million had been allocated towards that programme to carter for districts countrywide to uplift the lives of the poor and disadvantaged groups in society. Under the food security pack, the ministry had set aside K52.750 million to eradicate hunger and improve household food security among vulnerable households in the country.
Under the 2015 Budget, the ministry would target 45,000 farmers and emphasis would also be placed on adopting innovations to improve the lives of the rural poor households.
The ministry would continue to empower women by providing grants and micro credit to women clubs and associations to support their income generating activities.
Government had managed to reduced infant and maternal mortality rates.
About K253 million had been set aside in the 2015 budget to increase awareness of communicable diseases, increase coverage of male circumcision, promote environmental health, control tuberculosis and provide Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART), among others.
Meanwhile Ms Kabanshi has told Parliament that Government had so far registered 350 NGOs under the NGO Act number 16, of which 265 were local while 85 were international, since the registration started in 2013.
A total amount of K2.9 million had been allocated to the Registrar of NGOs to regulate the civil society. Earlier, the Ministry of Tourism informed the House that it had stiffened laws on destruction of bio-diversity and would not allow illegal mining in national parks.  The ministry would be guided by the Zambia Environmental Management Authority (ZEMA) Environmental Impact Assessments, whether or not to allow mining in national parks.
Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda introduced six bills to the House among them the Income Tax Act, Customs and Excise tax, Property transfer Act and Mines and Minerals Development Act which would see mineral royalty tax rate being increased to eight per cent.