President for enhanced BISP outreach, number of beneficiaries

Liaquat Ali

Islamabad: President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday underscored the need for enhancing the outreach of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) as well as the number of beneficiaries for the uplift of underprivileged sections of society.

The President expressed these views during a briefing given by the Chairperson Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), Mrs Rubina Khalid, at Aiwan-e-Sadr.

He asked the Chairperson of BISP to establish an office at Gwadar so that the deserving people of the area could benefit from the Programme.

Taking note of the 0.45% service charges by the banks from BISP cardholders, the president said that the service charges needed to be waived off, and in this regard, the State Bank of Pakistan should be approached to ask banks for opening accounts for BISP beneficiaries.

He said that the new payment system would also protect BISP beneficiaries from exploitation. He also called for engaging donors and the private sector to support BISP in its endeavours to provide scholarships to the maximum number of deserving students.

During the briefing, the President was informed about the core initiatives taken by BISP, including the Benazir Kafalat Program, Benazir Taleemi Wazaif Program, BISP Scholarships for Undergraduates Program and Benazir Nashounuma Program. Chairperson BISP informed that Rs 598.718 billion had been allocated for BISP during the ongoing fiscal year.

She said that Benazir Kafalat was the flagship program of BISP, providing unconditional cash transfers to eligible women and transgender persons across Pakistan. It was highlighted that Rs 461 billion had been allocated for the Benazir Kafalat Program, during FY 2024-25, for 9.3 million eligible families.

In order to enhance school enrolment and provide education to children from low-income households, she informed that Rs 77.18 billion had been allocated for the Benazir Taleemi Wazaif which would benefit 9.7 million children. It was further highlighted that Rs 1.7 billion had been allocated to provide 10,000 scholarships to students under the BISP Scholarships for Undergraduates Program.

The meeting was told that Special Nutrition Food was also being provided to 2 million pregnant and lactating women (PLW) and their infants to address the issues of malnutrition and stunting. She also informed that during the floods in 2022, BISP disbursed Rs 70 billion to 2.7 million flood-affected families across Pakistan.

The President appreciated BISP for providing monetary relief to the deserving and underprivileged strata of society.